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PRESENTED Iff 



EARLY CHAPTERS 

OF 

SENECA HISTORY: 



JESUIT MISSIONS IN SONNONTOUAN, 

1656-1684. 

BY CHARLES HAWI.EV, I). D., 

f I 

Author of " Early Chapters of Cayuga History," &c, &c, and President of the 

Cayuga County Historical Society. 

Reprinted from Collections of C. C. H. S., No. 3. 



AUBURN, N . Y . 
KNAPP, PECK & THOMSON, BOOK AND JOR PRINTERS. 

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PRE FACE. 

The plan of the present work is similar to that of the 
Kuril) Chapters of Cayuga History, issued in 1879, as the first 
of a series intended to include a complete account of the 
missionary labors of the French Jesuit Fathers, in the several 
Iroquois cantons, in the last half of the seventeenth century. 
It has the same distinctive feature, in the use made of the 
Relations for the purposes of local history, which belongs to 
the previous publication. These records of two centuries ago, 
are allowed to tell their own story of devotion and heroism, 
while they also serve a most trustworthy guide to the re- 
searches of the antiquarian, topographer, and local historian, 
as will be seen in the notes to the translations in the text, 
and the accompanying ma}). 

The writer would acknowledge his indebtedness, as in the 
preparation of the Cayuga Chapters, to Dr. John Grilmary 
Shea, author of Catholic Missions Among the Indian Tribes of 
the U. /&, (and kindred volumes illustrating the early history 
of the country.) for his counsel and aid, which has been of 
service in various particulars. The introductory chapter, 
which narrates the first missionary visit to the Indians 
within the present limits of the state of New York, and 
chapter X" III which concludes the history of the Seneca Mis- 
sion, were furnished by him, while the translations that 



compose the body of the work, were submitted to his careful 
revision. It also gives me pleasure to direct attention to the 
notes contributed by Gen. John S. Clark, of Auburn, over- 
Iris own initials, as of special value. They are the result of 
much study and research, and so far as they relate to Indian 
village sites, of repeated personal inspection of the several 
localities, until entire satisfaction has been reached. It is 
hardly possible to appreciate the patient labor inspired by the 
true historic spirit, required to attain accuracy in this depart- 
ment of study. C. II. 
Aububn, X. Y.. July, 1884. 



Jesuit Missions $matxg the Scnsoas. 



i. 

Tin' earliest attempt at mission work in Western New 
York was that of the Franciscan Father Joseph de la Roche 
Daillon, a zealous man who though of high rank, belonging 
to the family of the Dukes du Lud, devoted himself to the 
American missions with all their hardships and privations. 

Sagard preserves the following letter of this clergyman 
addressed to a friend at Angers in France, giving an account 
of his visit to the Neuter nation in 1(326-7. It properly 
forms a preliminary chapter of the present series, since after 
the overthrow of the Neuters by the Iroquois in 1650, their 
territory was incorporated in the Seneca canton and one of 
the principle villages, Gandougare, was at the time of the 
missionary labors of the Jesuit Fathers among the Senecas, 
composed largely of captives from the conquered nation. In 
the wars between the Iroquois and the Hurons, which resulted 
in the destruction of the latter, in 1649, the Neuters took 
part with neither; and it was their neutral position that gave 
them their name. 

NARRATIVE OF FATHER DE LA ROCHE DAILLON. 1 

"Sib: — My humble salutation in the mercy of Jesus. It 
is still permitted though separated by distance to visit one's 



i Translated by Dr. John Gilmary Shea as the introductory chapter of the present 
work. The notes, together with the sketch of Brule which follows the narrative, are 
also from his pen, except as otherwise indicated. 



10 

friends by missives, which render absent persons present. 
Our Indians are astonished at this, seeing that we often write 
to our Fathers who are at a distance from us, and that bj 
our letters they learn our thoughts and even what these very 
Indians had done at the place of our residence 

After having made some stay in our convent in Canada, 
and communicated with our Fathers, and the Reverend Jesuit 
Fathers, I was induced by religions impulse to visit the 

itary nations whom we call Huron, and wit!) me I 
Reverend Fathers Brebeuf and De N - ts Saving 

arrived there, with all the hardships each one can - 
by reason of the wretched roads, I received a letl 
time after) from our Reverend Father Joseph C . hy 
winch he encouraged me to push on further to a nation 
which we call Neutral, of which the interpreter Brule t<>ld 
wonders. Encouraged bj I a Father and I 

account made to me of this people. I journeyed thither and 
set out from the Eurona with this 
with one named Grenolle, and La Vallee, Frenchmen by 

nation.' 

Passing by the nation of the lYtun. I made the acquaint- 
ance and friendship of a chief who is in great repute there. 
who promised me to guide us to that Neuter nation, and 
furnish Indians to carry our j 8 S - and the small - 
provisions that we had laid up. tor it is - t to think of 

living in these countries as mendicants, t;. 3 >ple never 



i l, We have no knowledge of any one who proceeded thither with I 
preaching the gospel, except the Rev. Father Joseph de la Roche 
who in 1686 made a journey to that countn ami spent the winter there." Relation 
1641, p. 7-J- It is evident that the Neuters lay on both sides the \ 

Jthougb at that time the WentO, and perhaps other bonds had been I 
by the Senecas. and only the smaller portion of the vi: - 
o( the Niagara. From the proximity of Qnnontlnaaton where Father de "... 
tered to the Wenros. who were on the Iroquois frontier, the presumption U 
that that Nentral town was east of the Niagara, and in a - B I >rk. 

* These are the Tionontatee or Dinondadiea, n rthrownwithl 

Their descendants form principally the western band no • 



11 

thinking to give unless von put them under obligation, and 
it is often necessary to make long stages and even pass 
many nights withoul finding any other shelter than that of 
khe stars. He fulfilled to our satisfaction what he had prom- 
ised us, aud we slept only five nights in the woods, and on 
the sixth day we arrived at the first village, where wewere 
very well received, thanks to our Lord, and then to four 
other villages which competing with each other brought us 
food, some venison, others squashes, ncintahony ' and tin- 
best they had, and they were astonished to see me dressed in 
the style and that I desired nothing belonging to them, only 
that I invited them by signs to raise their eyes to Heaven, 
and make the sign of the Holy Cross, and what tilled them 
with wonder was to see me retire at certain hours of the clay 
to pray to Grod, and devote myself to interior exercises, for 
they had never seen religious, except towards the Petuneux 
and the Iiurons, their neighbors. 

At last we reached the sixth village,- where I had been 
advised to remain ; I had a council held here, where you 
will remark, by the way, that they call all their assemblies 
councils, which they hold seated on the ground, as often as it 
pleases their chiefs, not in a hall, but in a cabin, or in the 
open Held, with very strict silence as long as the chief speaks, 
and they are inviolable observers of what they have once 
concluded and determined. 

There I told them through the interpreter that I had come 
in the name of the French, to form alliance and friendship 
with them, and to invite them to come to the trade, that 1 



' i Sagard in his Huron dictionary explains this to be parched corn. 

2 He calls this subsequently Ounontisaston. In 1640 Father Brebenf calls the village 
furthest from the Iiurons, and only one day's journey from the Senecas, J'the last town of 
the Neuter nation on the east side, called Onguiaahra, the same name as the river/ 1 
Relation Kill,]).?."). The town nearest the Iiurons was Kandoucho. lb. Teotogiaton 
was midway. lb. p. 78. Brebeufand Chaumonot visited 13 of the Neuter towns and 
apparently crossed the Niagara, p. 78, as Father de la Roche Daillon did. Unfortunately 
Champlaln mentions no Neuter village in his text or map. 



12 

also begged them to permit me to remain in their country, in 
order to be able to instruct them in the law of our God, which 
is the only means of going to Heaven. They accepted all 
my offers, and assured me they were very pleasing to them. 
consoled by which, I made them a present of the little I had, 
as little knives and other trifles, which they esteem at a high 
price, for in these countries you never treat of anything with 
the Indians without making them presents of something 
other, and in return they begot me (as they say) that is. they 
declared me a citizen and a child of the country, and gav< 
in charge (a mark of great affection) to Souharissen, who was 
my father and ray host, for according I _ , 1 
tomed to call us cousin, brother, son, uncle or nephew, & 
This one is the chief of the greatest credit and authority. 

who has ever been in all the nations, for he is eh < 
his village Only, but ^i all those of his nation, to the number 
of twenty-eight, including towns, cities, and villages, built 
like those of the Huron country, as well as oi - little 

hamlet- of Beven 01 eight cabins, built in various 
convenient for fishing, hunting or cultival ground 

This is without example among the other nations to | 
so absolute a C Heacquired this honor and power by 

his courage, ami for having several tin.' 
the seventeen nations wh<> are their i - and bro _ I 

back heads, or brought in pris rom all. 

Those who are valiant in this style are big 
among them And though they have only the war club and 
the bow, yet they are very war like, and dexl 
arms. After all this friendly welcome, our Frenchmen hav- 
ing returned. 1 remained, the happiest man in ti. 
hoping to advance something there - _ 

least to discover the means, which would : s .all thing, 

and to endeavor to learn the mouth of the river of tie 
quois in order to conduct them to the trade. 



13 

I have also done my besl to learn their customs and mode 
of life, and during mv stay I visited them in their cabins, to 
know and instruct them, and I found them sufficiently 
tractable, and I often mad.' the little children, who are very 
bright, stark naked and disheveled, make the sign of the 
Holy ('ross, and I remarked that in all these countries I never 
saw any humpbacked, one-eyed, or misshapen. 

I have always seen them firm in their wish to go with at 
least four canoes to the trade, if I would guide tliem ; the whole 
difficulty was that we did not know the way. YYoquet, an 
Indian known in these countries, who had come there with 
twenty of his people to hunt beaver, and who took at least 
live hundred, was never willing to give us any mark to know 
the mouth of the river. He and several Hurons assured us 
firmly that it was only ten days' sail to the place of trade, but 
we were afraid of taking one river for another, and losing 
our way or dying of starvation in the land. 

For three months I had every reason in the world to be 
satisfied with my people. But the Hurons having discovered 
that I talked of taking them to the trade, spread through all 
the village where they passed, very evil rumors about me, 
that I was a great magician ; that I had diseased the air in 
their country and poisoned several ; that if they did not soon 
make way with me that I would set fire to their villages, and 
make all their children die; in fine, that I was, as they rep- 
resented, an Atatanite — this is their word to signify one who 
makes sorceries, which they hold in the greatest horror ; and, 
by the way, know that there are many sorcerers who under- 
take to cure the sick by mummeries and other fancies. 1 

In fine, these Hurons have always told them so much evil 
of the French that they could imagine, in order to divert 
them from trading with us, that the French were inapproach- 

i When the Jesuits Brebeuf and Chaumonot attempted a mission among the Neuters 
in 1 C» 10. the same accusations were made against them by Hurons. Relation 1641, p. 75. 



14 

able, harsh, sad and melancholy men. who live on nothing 
but snakes and poison; that we eat the thunder 1 (v. 
they imagine to be an unparalleled monster, relating St.; _ 
stories about it); that we all had tails like animals, and 
that our women had only one breast, which was in the mid- 
dle of the bosom: that they bore five or six children 
birth, and they added a thousand other absurdities to make 
us hated by them. 

And in fact these good people who are ver 
suaded, conceived such a mistrust <>t" me, as soon as any one 
fell sick, they cam'- to ask me whether it was not true that I 
had poisoned him. that they win;! . kill me if I did 

not cure him. I had much difficulty in _ and defend- 

ing myself. At last ten men OI the last villa- I I 

roronon. one day'a march from the Hiroquois, their ki: 
and friends, coming to trade in onr vi 
and invited me to visit them in return at their village I 
promised to do so without fail, when the snow had melted, 
t<> give them all some tri&es, with which they showed them. 
selves satisfied. Thereupon they left the cabin when I 

lodged, all the time hiding their evil d( linst inc. and 

seeing that it WSfi growing late, they came back t< - 

and brusquely began to quarrel with me. without 

tion. ( me knocked me down with a blow of Ids list, and the 

other took an axe, and as he was about to lay my h< 

God diverted his hand and turned the 1 

there near me. 1 reee;\ ral other ill treatments, but 

is what we come to seek in these counti es ( | ting little, 



i This had reference to the use of gunpowder. 

i " The Wenrohronona formed hitherto one of the nations associated i 
nation and were situated on their borders, oa the Mile of tin H - the tommon 

enemy of all these nations." BelatkM : statins their abandonment by 

the Neuters and their emigration to the Huron eouir - of their march of 

more than SO leagues, on which there were more • | little 

Children constituting the greater part. " — Ih. p. «'. i. 



lf> 

thoy vented their anger on the little property we had left. 
They took om- writing desk, blanket, breviary and our bag in 
which there were some pocket-knives, needles, awls, and 
other little things of like quality, and having thus stripped 
me, they went off all that night overjoved at their exploit, 
and on arriving at their village, on making an examination 
oftheir booty, touched perhaps by a repentance come from tin- 
Most High, they sent me back our breviary, compass, writing 
desk, blanket and sack, but it was quite empty. 

On their arrival in my village, (-ailed Ounontisaston, there 
were only women there, the men having gone to hunt stags. 
On their return they manifested to me that they were sorry 
for the disaster that had befallen me, then no more was 
said about it. 

The rumor spread forthwith to the Hurons, that I had 
been killed, whereupon the good Fathers Brebeuf and de 
Noue, who had remained there, sent Grenolle promptly to me 
to learn the truth, with orders that if I were alive to bring me 
back, to which I was invited also by the letter which they 
had written me with the pen of their good will, and I did not 
wish to gainsay them, since such was their advice and that 
of all the PVench, who feared more disasters than profit by 
my death, and thus returned I to the country of our Hurons, 
where I am at present all admiring the divine effects of 
Heaven. 

The country of this Neuter nation is incomparably greater, 
finer and better than any other of all these countries. 1 There 



i "There is also two days' journey from these (the Petuns) another nation of Indians 
who raise a great quantity of tobacco, on the side towards the south, who are called tho 
Neuter nations who number 4,000 warriors, who dwell west of the lake of the Kntouh- 
onorons, 80 to 100 leagues in extent. 1 ' Laverdiere's Champlain, 1619, p. 60. "These 
Neuters enjoy, according to the report of some, eighty leagues of country, where they 
raise very good tobacco, which they trade with their neighbors. They assist the Che 
veux Relevez (Ottawas) against the Nation of Fire, of whom they are mortal enemies; 
but between the Hiroquois and our Hurons * * * they had peace and remained neutral 
between the two nations." Sagard, p. 8ii3 " From the first town of the Neuter nation 



16 

i? an incredible number of stags there, which they do not take 
one by one, as is done on this side, but making three hedges 
in a spacious place, they run them all ahead, until they col- 
lect them in this place, where they take them : and they 
this maxim for all kinds of animals, whether they need them 
or not, to kill all they find, for fear, as they say. that if I 
do not take them the beasts would go and inform the others 
how they had been pursued, and that afl -. in their 

necessity, they would no longer find any. A great abund- 
ance of moose or elk, beaver, .and black squii 

r than ti md there, quantity 

of wild geese, turkeys, cranes, and other animals, v. 
remain there all winter, which is not long nor i p 
Canada, and no snow had fallen thereon t\ 22 
ber, which was no1 at mosl more than tv. 
and begun to melt on the U'lth «.f January. On 1 
March' there was no longer any at all in the 

though there was a little, indeed, in the woods. R 
there is pleasant and convenient rivers furnish 

quantities of very good fish, the 
than for their want. There are - 

tables in plenty, an i which they call a 

T< ronton. not doubt but that we 



found <>n proceeding from ben - about 

roar days 1 journey to the month of I of thai nation in On: r 

Lake St. Louis This ride of that river and not be] rtetn map states. art 
the most of iiic towns of the N 

from sari to west towards the K - ' : >*t by 

which oar gnat lake of the Hoi • mo that of l 

the Nation of the Cat, and then is enter* Into the I .ition aaritah 

name of Ongoiaahra, till it em] I H. The map re- 
ferred to is evidently Champ!au b, ol 

to east and places the Neuters entire!] v; a cars 
The oil springe in tin ir country were evidently east not weal of that river. 

i This fixes apparently the period 

November n, w>:>\. to ah 

"The copyist of the Father** letter mistook in my opinion, the 
onton. which be makes to mean etf; fori: ls,prapedj .'sow 

miic/i " S p. 6 



17 

there rather than elsewhere, and, doubtless on a longer stay 
there would be hope of advancing God's glory, which is 

more to be SOUght than aught else, an. 1 their conversion is 

more to be hoped for the faith than that of the Burons, and 
I am astonished how the Company of Merchants, since the 
time tbey have come to these countries, have not made some 
Frenchmen winter in said country; I say assuredly that il 
would be very easy to lead them to the trade, which would 
be a greal advantage to go and conic by so short and easy ;i 
route, 1 as 1 have already told you, for to go trading to the 
llurons amid all the difficult rapids, and always in danger 
of drowning, is scarcely attractive, and then to inarch for six 
days from the llurons to this country, crossing the land by 
fearful and awful routes as I have seen — these are insup- 
portable hardships and he alone knows it, who has found 
himself amid them. 

1 say then that the gentlemen associates should, in my 
opinion, send some Frenchmen to winter in the country of 
the Neuters, who are less remote than that of the llurons, 
for they can proceed by the lake of the Hiroquois to tin.' 
place where the trade is held" in ten days at most; this lake 
is their'salso, the one on the one shore, and the others on 



i " I conjecture also easily the proximity of the Neuters to Quebec, in that, the Hir- 
oquois are nearer to the French than the llurons are. and the Neuters are only a day's 
journey from the Hiroquois, who all lie southward. '"— S.'gard. 

8 The place of trade, already several times mentioned, was on Lake St. Peter, about 
fifty miles below Montreal. Sagard in 163G says : * * * * "Af'er having been re- 
freshed for several days with our brethren, and enjoyed their sweet conversation, in 
our little Convent, wc ascended in our barques by the River St. Lawrence for the trade 
of (lie Cape Qf Victory, which is from Quebec about fifty leagues. * * * * We reached 
Lake St. Peter, which is six or seven leagues long, and three or four wide in places, and 
four fathoms deep where the water is still. * * * * A little above the outlet of the 
lake we enter the harbor of Cape Victory and cast anchor about six or seven o'clock in 
the evening of the day of St. Magdalen, where already were encamped along the bank. 
a great number of savages of various nations for the trade of !><<ic>rs with the French. 
* * * * From the harbor one sees in front six or seven islands covered with beautiful 
trees of uniform height, which conceal from view the lake and the river of the Iro- 
quois, which discharge? itself into the great river opposite the harbor." 1 (Sagard's 
History of Canada, I, 17:2 )— J. S. ('. 



18 

the other, but I see one obstacle, which is they hardly k 
how to manage canoes, especially at rapids, although there 
arc only two, but they are long and dangerous. Their real 
trade is hunting and war. outside of that they are great 
sluggards, whom yon see like beggars in France, when they 
are full, lying on their belly in the sun. Their life, like that 
of the Ilurons, very dissolute, and their manners and 
toms entirely the same. The language is different, how. 
but they understand each other as the Algoumequins and 
Montagnais do. 1 As for clothes, do not look for any ai 

them, for they do not wear even or ;h cloths, which is 

very strange, and is scarcely found in the most Bavag 
And to tell you the truth, it would not be expedient I 
all kind- of peopl here, for the wicked life 

Frenchmen is a pernicious exampl i, and in all tl - 

countries, the people thoug s, saying 

that we teach them things contrary to what 
practice. Think, sir. what weight our wo: 
that : vet better is to be hoped for, - 
on my return was to see that our countrymen had 

their peace with our Lord, had O 

tnunion at Easter, and had sent away t: ien, and 

since been more guarded. 

1 must tell you that they treated our Fathers BO harshly, 

that even two men of whom the Jesuit Fathers 

themselves for their accommodation, hai 

force, and they were unwilling them any provision* 

to nourish and support some India a sired to live 

with us. although they promised to have them remum 

by some of our benefactors. It is cruel t<» be treated in this 



i "Our Uurons call the Neuter nation Attiw.mdaronk pie of 

a language a little different," for as to nations « b .: they do not 

understand at all, they call theaa Akwanake. of a 

Ml "Strangers." The people of Neuter Nation in turn for: - ill onr 

Uurons ••Attiwamlaronk." Relation 1611, ; 



L9 

sort, by our very countrymen, hut. since we arc Friars Minor, 
our condition is to suffer and to pray to God to give us 

patience. 

It is said that two new Fathers came to us from France, 

named Father Daniel Boursier and Father Francis de Bin* 
ville, who had been promised us already last year; if this be 

so, I beg you as a crowning of all your trouble, that you take 
for me, to let me have without fail a habit that they ean send 
me, it is all that I ask, for no cloth is made here, and ours 
being all worn out, I cannot do without one. The poor 
religious of St. Francis having food and clothing, this is their 
whole lot on earth; Heaven we hope under favor of our 
good God in whose service we must voluntarily devote our 
life for the salvation of these benighted people, in order that 
it please him, if he accept our care, to make Christianity 
flourish in these countries. God permits martyrdom to those 
who merit it, I am sorry not to be in that state, and yet I 
am not unaware that to he recognized a true servant of God, 
one must expose himself for his brethren. Come then bravely 
pain and toil, all difficulties and death itself will be agreeable 
to me, God's grace being with me, which I implore by means 
of the prayers of all our good friends over there, w T hose, sir, 
and your most humble servant, 

I am in our Lord. 
Dated at Toanchain, a Huron village, this 18th day of July, 1627. 

Stephen Brule, whose eulogy of the country of the Neuters 
led Father de la Roche Daillon, to visit them, had, we must 
infer, already been in that part of the country, and been st ruck- 
by its advantages. He came over at a very early age and was 
employed by Champlain from about 1610 and perhaps earlier- 
He was one of the first explorers, proceeding to the Huron 
country and acquiring their language so as to serve as inter- 
preter. (Laverdiere's Champlain, vi pp. 244-266). As early as 



20 

September 8, 1615. when Cham plain was preparing to join the 
Hurons in their expedition against the Entouohonorons. in 
Central New York, Stephen Brule set out with a party of 
twelve Hurons from Upper Canada for the towns of the 
Carantonannais, allies of the Hurons. living on the Susque- 
hanna, and evidently forming part of the confederacy known 
later as the Andastes. (lb. (16K nre their 

co-operation against the enemy. 

He crossed from Lake Ontario apparently to the Susque- 
hanna, defeated a small Iroquois party and entered the ( ' 
antouannais town in triumph. 1 Tl marched too slowly 

to join Champlain, and Brule* returned to their country where 
he wintered. II" d< 3ccnded their river (the Susquehanna,) 
visiting the neighboring tril al who com- 

plained of the harshness of the Dutch. A- 
rejoin his countrymen, but his party . 
tered by the Eroquois, and Brule* losing h - tered an 

[roquois village. He tried to convince them thai 
not of the same nation of whites who had just be sking 

them, bul they Fell upon him, tore <>ut ins nails and b 
and began to burn him in different parts of the body. He 
was Far from being an exemplary character, but 
Agnus Dei, and when tin* Indians went to tear this from his 
neck he threatened them with the \ Heaven. 

.Inst then a terrible thunder Btorm came up, 1, s I 
Bed and the chief released him. After be ha 
time with them they escorted him four days' journey and be 
made his way to the Atinoiiaentans. the Huron tribe 
pying the peninsula between Xatt ss s I and Match* 
bays on Lake Huron (La verdi* sC implain 1619, pp. 1 
140, L615, p. 26; Sagard, Histoire du Canada, p 46 



iCatantoaan was [q the environs of prec 
tlu> lino between Pennsylvania and Now York, on the • - - I be tu Htw 

was enclosed l>y a palisaded work. the remain* of which are still plain to be seen, con- 
taining about ton acres. Brail repotted thai la 1016 it contained &• 



21 

He found Champlain in 1018, and made his report to 
him. It was apparently on this return march that he passed 
through the territory of the Neuters, as it. would be bis safesl 
course. We Gnd bim in Quebec in 1623, when be was sent 
to meet and bring down the Hurons coming to trade. He 
returned with them, leading a very dissolute life among the 
Indians (as Sagard complained). — Laverdiere's Champlain, 
1024, p. M. When Kirk took Quebec he went over to the 
English, and was sent up to the Hurons in their interest in 
1629, notwithstanding the bitter reproaches of Champlain. 
(lb. 1632,- p. 267.) Sagard, writing in 1636, states that pro- 
voked at his conduct the Hurons put bim to death and 
devoured him. — Sagard, Ilistoire du Canada, p. 466, Lejeune 
Relation 1633, p. 34. The latter fact is not mentioned by 
the Jesuits. From the remark of Father Brebeuf (Relation 
1635, p. 28.) it would seem that he met his death at the very 
town, Toanchain, whence Father de la Roche wrote. It was 
about a mile from Thunder Bay. — Laverdiere's Champlain 
1619, p. 27. 

Such was the fate of the man who was the first to cross 
from Lake Ontario to the Susquehanna, and pass from the 
village of the Iroquois through the Neutral territory to the 
shores of Lake Huron. 



II. 



The founder of the first mission among th( S s in 

1656 was Father Joseph Chaumonot, an old Huron miss 
ary, not less distinguished for his than f<>r his 

pious devotion. He came to Onondag capital of the 

[roquois Confederacy, theyearprei father 

Claude Dablon, and remained there during the winte 
L655 6, preparing the way for blishment of miss 

in the se\ eral [roquois cant- »ne 

The following narrative of his work in founding the S 
eca missions, is translated from Chapter xvn. « : 
L667, viz: 

CONCERNING NIK PUBLICATION <>l THE FAITH AMONG THE 
30NB LN& 

The country ^ the Sonnontouans (S< oecas), which is much 
tin 1 most fertile and populous of tb tons of 
contains two very large towns and a number «>f leaser vil- 
s, besides a town of the Buroi - St M chael, who 

took refuge there io order to escape the common calamity <»f 
their nation. These Burons, who have pn a tlieir 



i For the preliminary history common to the Iroq 

Cayuga flbfory, pp 

• 

I Coii>l><VJl<; - I - - 

quent references to the /2 to this edition anion - indicated. 

; The Burons, as a nation, were destroyed by the In 
composed of thesanrivorsof the miss s of St. If and St. 

country. In 1666 the Senecas had two very 

another important one made up of captive Oanoni gas, H - ..led in 

1668 Gandongaraa and several smaller villages in all not lest - 



23 

customs and particular habits, live separate from the Lro- 
quois, and content themselves with being one with them in 
good feelingand friendship. Not having a sufficient number 
of laborers to cultivate the whole of this extensive field, we 
confine ourselves to preaching thegood tidings to them, hav- 
ing exchanged with them presents of ceremony and alliance. 
For as soon as Father Ohaumonot, on our arrival in the 
(Iroquois) country, had adopted the Cayugas as children of 
Onontio 1 he wenl to Seneca to adopt that people as brothers 
indeed, after the mannerof the Faith to which we would dis- 
pose them. 

Having assembled the sachems of Grandagan, 8 the princi- 
pal town of the Senecas, and made the customary presents 
of alliance, he commenced in an earnest and elevated tone of 
voice to explain the principal truths of the gospel, which he 
sealed with three very beautiful presents that he had reserved 
for the purpose ; and to press the matter still farther, " My- 
self " he said, l< I give with these as guarantee of the truths 
which I preach ; and if my life, which I consecrate to you, 
should seem to you of little account, I offer to }^ou the lives 
of all the French who have followed me to Gannentaa 3 as 
a testimony of the Faith which I proclaim to you. Do you 
not put coniidence in these living presents — these noble 
braves? Can you be so simple as to think that such a 
courageous band would leave their native country, the most 
agreeable and beautiful in the world, suffer so great hard- 
ships and come so far, to bring you a lie? " 



i For an account of this interesting ceremony together with the speech of Saonchio. 
gwa, the distinguished Cayuga orator, on the occasion, see Early Chapters of Cayuga 
History, pp. 16, 16. Onontio was the name by which the French Governor was known 
to the Iroquois, 

i See note on Seneca towns, p. 85. 

8 The site of the Onondag.i Mission of St. Mary. It was also the seat of a French 
colony of some forty persons who had accompanied the missionaries from Quebec, 
under command of M. I)u Puys, and was situated on the north side of the Onondaga 
lake, about midway between its two extremities. 



24 

The result proved that these barbarians were moved by the 
discourse of the Father. For after due deliberation over the 
matter, they answered that they believed what we bad the 
goodness to present to them, and embraced the Faith, and 
entreated with great earnestness that the Father would live 
with them, the better to instruct them in our mysteries. 
There was one more deeply touched than the rest, rould 

not consent that the Father should depart until lie. hi: 
was instructed and baptized, and lie had also obi r his 

wife the same happiness God ts of this 

Father with similar success in the other to* 

Annonkentitaoui, who i< the chief of ihis 
i.) surpass all others in zeal, and to be himself one <>f the 
firsi I., become a Christian. A cancer which bad eaten into 
his thigh, having confined him to the bed, the Father 
although indisposed, saw him and converted him I 
Faith of which he will I pport in his country. 

since God seems with this end in view, t.> have healed him of 
a disease which all thought to be incurable 

Among the many Burons who have kept their faith dui 
their captivity, the Father met with a woman who 
served the zeal of a good Christian, and from whom he 
[earned that the Burons of the Lsl itinued in 

the practice of our religion with all their former devotion ; 

and that one of them named JacqUi - I >tS QS, had B£ 

ished by his fortitude the [roquois who burned him. not 

omitting to repeat at length the usual prayers and invo 
without ceasing the nam- 3 9 during the whole of his 

torture. 8 



i See oote on Seneca towns, p. SS. 

At tin 1 dispersion of the Huron nation and with it the missions, a number - 
refuge andei French protection at Q u e b e c , and after a while a - i d to the Isle 

of Orleans in the vicinity, whore a church and ■ fort wore built : and the cultivation Of 
the soil gave the refugees KB ample support. Ouided by Fathers Leonard QaftOM and 
Chanmonot, two Of their niriiTing pastors in their own country, thej are said to have 

Income models of piety and devotion. 



26 

The Hurons of St. Michael 1 did not manifest any less signs 
of piety, being filled with joy .it Beeing again cue of their 
dear pastors, each asking forthwith absolution for himself or 
baptism for his children. Even the old men who despised 

ISSNKOA TOWHS.— When the SenecaJ were first known to the Whites, and from thul 

time up to the French expedition of Denonville In 1887, they had four principal towns. 
In 1669 according to Galinee, they were living In live villages, two of which contained 
B hundred cabins each, the others from twenty to thirty. At tins time certainly two, and 
probably three Of the largest were enclosed by palisades. In 1077 when visited by 
Qreenhalgh, an Albany trader, they were occupying four villages, none of which were 
palisaded. Frequent changes of location with the large towns was a necessity. Abbe 
Belmont who accompanied Denonville in 1687 says "they change their locations every 
ten years in order to bring themselves near the woods." This was probably true of 
the larger villages, but the smaller ones might continue for twenty years or more. 
During the time of the Jesuit Missions anions the Senecas and up to KSS7 the four 
principal villages occupied the relative positions iudicated in the following diagram. 

North. 

Sonnontouan. O - - 10 miles. - - O Gandagaiso. 

La Conception. St. James. 

Tutiacton. tiandagan. 

Gandacuioragou. o O Gandoigahak. 

liiinnnuiiata, St. Michael. 

Keiiithe. Soiltli. Onontague. 

Of Gandagaiio it is known certainly that in 1(577 and 1687 it was on the great hill 
known as Boughton Hill, a mile south of the village of Victor in Ontario county. 
Greenhalgh says it contained one hundred and fifty houses, located on the top of a great 
hill and was not " stockadoed." In 1669 Galiuee describes it as in a large plain about 
two leagues in circumference, on the edge of a small hill and surrounded with palisades. 
No indications of a palisaded work of this character have been found, on, or in the 
vicinity of Boughton Hill. Denonville found some kind of a work, o i the hill north of 
Victor, and some evidences of a minor Indian village have been found there, but the 
preponderance of evidence, goes to show that Gandasan was south of the great hill on 
the farm of Mr. Chapin. In this vicinity, in different locations have been found pipes, 
beads, iron hatchets, brass kettles, numerous skeletons, and all the usual accompani- 
ments of important Indian villages. This Gangadan alias Gandagaro was the •' St. 
James " of the missionaries, the Capital and residence of the chief sachem who presided 
over the grand councils of the tribe. 

Gandougarae, the " St. Michael 1 ' of the missionaries, peopled principally by cap- 
tives from the Huron and other conquered tribes, was located at different dates from one 
and a half to four miles south of the capital town. A site on the east side of Mud creek 
on the line between the towns of Canandaigua and East Bloomfield about five miles 
south-east of Victor, appears to have been one site of this village. Other sites were 
probably on, or in the vicinity of the Chapin farm, directly south of Boughton Hill. 

The two eastern villages after their destruction in 1687 gradually drifted eastward, 
and were found a hundred years later by Sullivan near present Geneva. In VrZd they 
were two miles east of the foot of Canandaigua lake ; in 1750 on the White Springs farm 
two miles south-west, and on BurrelTs creek, four miles south-west of Geneva ; in 1750 
at the Old Castle two miles north-west of Geneva. 

Sonnontouan alias Totiacton, Tegarnhies, the "Conception" of the missionaries 
was located a mile and a half N. N. W. of Honeoye Falls in the town of Meudon, 



26 

the light of the Gospel while their land flourished, sought it 
with great eagerness, asking immediate baptism. How true 
it is, that affliction giveth understanding, and adversity 
openeth the eyes of them whom prosperity had blinded. 
But pleasant as were these fruits of the Gospel, the Father 
was nevertheless obliged to deprive himself of them, pressing 
work calling him elsewhere. ' 

On his way (back to Onondaga) he had an excellent oppor- 
tunity to ridicule a superstition of the infidels, his guide 



Monroe county. It is indicated on Galinee'e map a? "Father Fremin's village 11 
was about ten miles directly west of Qandagaro <>n Boughton Hill, in a bend of 
eoye creek, which at this point ind abruptly to the wet . rijrht 

angle on the east and north sides of the town. A second location and probably the one 
occupied in 1687 when destroyed by tire, wu on ihe Ball farm, a mile well of Honeoye 
Falls Tillage. Her >f about twenty I 

been found* Of copper, glass andiron: t>r:i '-dais and rings, and h: 

of iron hatchet- bearing evidence of h:i\ : : _ 

was the western door of the Long House and the residence of Tcraronhies hence some- 
times called T 

Gandachior*<j a, the w e stern small town, was m the *ite of the present 

village of Lima, fonr miles south of 1 to when located n< Fall*. 

The relic- found lure are abundant, and Indicate an important but I \n. 

These western villages after 1087, drifted soothandl ral dif- 

ferent locations, and pro Bnlltvan found 

them in |T79 in two vill.-i. -• of the river, and a third small one. 

near the head of Conesns laki 

1 Father Pbtkb Mabt Joseph Cha iheisc 

not, was born in 1611, near Chatillon 8m v rather was a wine d 

While studying with his uncle, a pi M >ciate to rob 

bis gnardian and go to Banme to ftnisl S - -ed to return, 

and proceeded on a pilgrimage to Borne 6 vhichhehaa 

inimitably described, be entered ths B on the isth 

son of an advocate. He soon revealed bis deceit, and rfucerelv convi •! him- 

.-elf to the study of perfection. While in hi- . her Poncet. then also a student 

of Rome, gave bim one of BrebenTs Hnr - I .tnada 

Mission, u - - - {ranted ; and laiaed, he m - - ■. ;erica. 

He landed at Quebec on the 1st of Ai._ :h Father Poooet, and with him pro- 

ceeded immediately to the Huron Territory. Here be rem:!. 
villages of the Herons, Petnns and NentraU - 

who settled on Isle Orleans, and - - tntlj With them till his death, on lh< i 

February. 1686, except from 165C - 

Montreal. 8 nongtht Indian . 

B6t,6yJoan 6 S ..New York 3 several c 

the Jesuit Fathers, which appear in th< - - n this 

work, with additional facts furnished by D 



having presented a bit of wood to east, upon two round 
Stones which they eiieonnteied on the journey, surrounded 
with the symbols of a supeist ition of this people who in 
passing throw a small stick' upon these stones in token of 
their homage, adding the words KouiJ askennon eskatongol, 
that is tosav : Hold ! this is to pay my passage in order that 
1 may proceed with safety. ' 

I cannot omit the death of David Le Moyne which should 
seem precious in the eyes of good men, as we believe it to 
ha \e been in the sight of God. He was a young man from 
Dieppe. '•' aged about thirty years, whose zeal led him to fol- 
low the Father in this mission, being disposed by a general 
confession. A hemorrhage which weakened his body for 
some time, did not interrupt for a moment his enthusiasm ; 
and he died on the banks of Lake Tiohero (Cayuga) with the 
gentleness and resignation of the elect, blessing God for this, 
that he was permitted to die in the land of the Iroquois, and 
in the work of spreading the faith. Is not such a death an 
ample 'recompense for a life devoted to the salvation of souls, 
and a fitting illustration of the protection of the Blessed Vir- 



i On his return to Onondaga, Chaumonot was immediately sent with Father Menard 
Che founder of the Cayuga mission, to the Oneidas to open friendly relations with that 
most obstinate of the Iroquois tribes. While on their way, and the first night they spent 
in the woods, a chief in the company thus addressed the Fathers : "Ah, my brothers, 
you are weary. What trouble you have to walk on the snow, on ice and in the water ! 
But courage ! Let us not complain of the toil since we undertake it for so noble a 
ca&se. Ye demons who inhabit the woods, beware of injuring any of those who com- 
pose this embassy. And you trees laden with years, whom old age must soon level to 
the earth suspend your fall ; envelop not in your ruin those who go to prevent the ruin 
of provinces and nations.'' Relation 1657. Chap. xvm. p. 4(5. This is similar, both 
in sentiment and imagery, to the opening sentences of the preliminary ceremony of the 
Iroquois "Condoling Council, 11 which was convened to mourn a deceased councilor of 
the League, and install his successor. See The Iroquois Book of Rites, edited by Hora- 
tio Hale, M. A., Philadelphia, 1883 ; pp. 117-119. 

•.' A seaport town of France, at the mouth of the river Arques, and takes its name 
from "diep" an inlet, a place of considerable importance as early as the 12th century. 
During the Franco-German war it was occupied by the Germans from December 18; 
to July 1871. 



28 

gin toward whom this young man manifested a devotion that 
was most remarkable ? 

The central mission at Onondaga was broken up the fol- 
lowing year (1657), on the discovery of a conspiracy involv- 
ing the massacre of the French colony located at Ganentaa 
and the death of the missionaries. The circumstances 
attending the timely disclosure of the treacherous plot and 
the manner of their escape, were fully narrated in the nisi 
of the Cayuga Mission. ' Suffice it to say here, that a war 
followed between the French and the Iroquois which r 
for two years, when negotiatio - icludedat 

Montreal, accompanied by the request from the Iroquois 
embassy that the several mis-ions might be r - shed. 
For this purpose and not wil m the pi 

the V Simon Le M 

when .mi a srisil to Onondaga ii 

first missions, returned with th< - and arrived at the 

Iroquois capital the llhii i ;e a brief 

visit to the Mohawks who had taken no part in the i 
for peace and maintained an implac stilil to the 

French, but witho ts - and barelj I with his life 

from the - a < Ele spent the autumn 

and winter in missionary v 
A notice oi it occurs in the R '. "_ 

•• Behold here a mi- I and tin', 

tears, of captives and - [t is untry where 

the earth is still red with the blood of the 1 
stakes vet stand covered with their ashes : \\\u re 1 X who 
have survived their cruelty, bear its fatal marks on their 
and hands, their toes cut off and their finger nails torn 
and where in fine Father Simon 1. My i has been I 
year to soothe the sighs of this afflicted church, an 

i Em ■ - 



29 

part like ;i good pastor in all the misfortunes of his dear 

Hock. 

"He was chiefly occupied during the winter with three 
churches, one French, one Huron and one Eroquois. lie 
preserved the piety among the French captives, and be- 
came himself the sole depository of all their afflictions ; he 
re-established the Huron church, formerly so flourishing in 
their own country; he laid the foundation of the Iroquois 
church, going from place to place to baptize the children and 
the dying, and to instruct those who, in the midst of barba- 
rism, were not far from the kingdom of God. 

" A little chapel formed of branches and bark was the 
sanctuary where God received every day the adoration of 
those who composed these three churches. Here the French 
assembled each morning, half an hour before daylight, to assist 
at the august sacrifice of the mass : and every evening to 
recite in common the rosary : and often too, during the day 
to seek consolation from God in their misfortunes, joining 
their mangled hands and lifting them to Heaven, they prayed 
for those who had thus mutilated them." i 

Owing to the continued hostilities of the Mohawks, it 
was not until 1668, that the missions were renewed, when 
all the cantons once more welcomed the missionary Fathers. 



i For an account of Le Moyne's visit to Cayuga, 6ee Early Chapters of Cayuga His- 
tory, p. 25. 



[II. 



The mission among the Senecas was resumed in L66€ 
Father James Fremin, who was in Onondag '7 

breaking up of the Iroqui i miss to in the 

previous number. His narrative occu] i IX "f the 

Relation 1<>7<». and is as follov 

THE MISSION OF BT. MICHAEL, \N. 

Our Iroquois missions made in I grati- 

fying pr< tgress. We then the Gos 

Tsonnontouai . 3 ter numl • 

de than in the other four canl 
When I arrived here at the close of 
well received ; but a fatal form ol -- it at 

the time, desolated the entire region, bo that 1 
occupied in visiting the cabins to instruct and baptizi 
sick, who were in extremity. [t ] 38 mv 

humble labors, so that in a short time, I baptizi than 

one hundred and twenty | \ nearly all ado rhom 

more than ninety die ( S tis But as ] 

alone and could not leave the field, more than one hundred and 
fifty died (without baptism) in i romhere, 

while engaged in fishing or hunting. A ssity £ 

ing impelled me to ask :*■ nee and 

nier, who was at Onondag 

moment But by the time of his arrival tl _ had 

eeased. Thus being relieved ii-^'.w exclusive occupation with 
the sick we began to proclaim I » Gospel to 1 



31 

had never heard the name of Jesus Christ ; and in order to do 
this with the greater success in differenl directions, Father 
Gamier took charge of the town named Gtandachiragou, 1 
where in a short time he built a very commodious chapel to 
which they flock from all sides for instruction. 

As for myself, on the 27th of Sept 1669, I entered the 
town called GandougaraeV and was received with every 
demonstration of public joy. They had for some time await- 
ed with impatience my coming. The town is composed of 
the remnants of three different nations which having' been 
subdued by the Iroquois, were forced to submit at the dis- 
cretion of their conquerors and to establish themselves in 
their territory. The first nation is called Onnontioga ; the 
second the Neuter and the third the Huron. 3 The first two 
have seldom if ever seen Europeans, neither have they heard 
mention of the true God. As for the third, they are a col- 
lection from many Huron villages, all of whom have been 
instructed in the Faith, and many of whom had already been 

i See Seneca Towns, p. % -5. 

sibid. 

a This was after the subjugation of the Ilurons, Neuters and Eries and previous to 
that of Gandastognes ; whence the inference that the Onnontiogas were a tribe of the 
Eries whose towns seem never to have been visited by the French. "'The territory of 
the Iroquois," says Mr. Hale (Iroquois Book of Rites pp. 32, 33.) "constantly extending, 
as their united strength made itself felt, became the ' GreatAsylum ' of the Indian tribes. 
Of the conquered Eries and Ilurons many hundreds were received and adopted by their 
conquerors. The Tuscaroras, expelled by the English from North Carolina, took refuge 
with the Iroquois and became the sixth nation of the League. From still further south 
the Tuteloes and Saponies of Dakota stock, after many wars with the Iroquois, fled to 
them from their other enemies and found a cordial welc mie. A chief still sits in the 
council as a representative of the Tuteloes, though the tribe itself has been swept away 
by disease or absorbed in the larger nations. Many fragments of tribes of Algonkin 
lineage— Uelawares, Mohegans, Mississagas— sought the same hospitable protection, 
which never failed them.'" Again (Ibid pp. 95, %.): " Those who suppose that the Ilurons 
only survive in a few Wyandots, and that the Eries, Attiwandaronks and Andastes have 
utterly perished are greatly mistaken. It is absolutely certain that of the twelve thous- 
and Indians who, now in the United States and Canada, preserve the Iroquois name > 
the greater portion derive their descent, in whole or in part, from those conquered na- 
tions. No other Indian community, so far as we know, has pursued this policy of in- 
corporation to anything near the same extent or carried it out with anything like the 
same humanity.'" 



•62 

baptized by our Fathers before that flourishing nation was 
destroyed by the arms of the Iroquois. ' 

While they were building me a chapel. I began visiting the 
cabins in order to know the people, and chiefly to seek out 
the scattered sheep of the ancient church of the Hurons. and 
endeavor to lead them back to the fold of J - - Christ- 
These good people were i to see me and hear me 

speak of the Faith. It was not possible to satisfy their de- 
sin.- in this regard. Some of them said to me that it 
enough to pray to G-od bu1 lay. I Others complained 

that I spent too little time in pre ■ _ L 

Paradise. & nth partiality 

in that I had preferred oth( stol visit them 

as much as I did the othei 
so hungry and thirsty for 

that I had difficulty i - that ass - the 

chapel sh<»uid be finis 
pletely satisfied. 

My round of visits being I 
adult Christians who had pr faith and pra. 

from the general diss. 'lute- 
in all the purity of Christianity. A i\ I the B 

have 
remarked in them an assiduity 

in prayer, public and private, that I hav< that 

they all will become de\ si - S not s 

fidelity and constancy in I t vincible 

rons serve in the day of judgment I am the indolence 

and corruption of theChristiai 3 of - 

rians, who had just started into Christianity when I 
quois compelled them by •:" arms to take part with 

them, have nevertheless preserved for this lon_r time their 



38 

faith in the midst of the corruption of a people abandoned 

to all sorts of vice and superstition ; and scarcely wciv they 
imbued with the principles of the Christian religion, when 
they were transported into the very home of disorder and 
abominations, destitute at the same time of pastors, having 
neither preachers to fortify them in the Faith, nor confessors 
to reconcile them with God, nor any of the external means 
with which Europe is so amply provided. Thus to live with 
fidelity, in prayers and innocence of manners, and with an 
ardor for their salvation equal to that of the first Christians, 
is it not something that ought one day to put to shame the 
weakness and unfaithfulness of so many Catholics who cor- 
rupt and destroy themselves, in the possession of all the 
means of piety and salvation ? 

As for the Onnontiogas, Tsonnontoiians (Senecas) and Neu- 
ters since they have scarcely ever seen Europeans or heard of 
the Faith, it is a work to absorb all the zeal of. the mission- 
ary, who will find it no small labor to cultivate a field the 
Evil One has possessed for so many ages. The chapel being 
finished, the Hurons came to pray to God with great fervor. 
I said the holy mass to them, and they assisted with a rever- 
ence and devotion which charmed me, and was pleasing in 
the sight of Heaven. A venerable person served me as 
catechist, and as he knew the prayers well, he pronounced 
them with an elevated and distinct voice, easily understood 
and followed by all the others ; and this zeal of the Hurons 
extended even to their children. These little savages were 
eager to persuade those of the other nations to accompany 
them to the chapel and pray with them. This compelled 
their fathers and mothers to come and see what they were 
doing, and, in some cases, to follow their example, to avoid 
the shame of being outdone by them. 

What I have most admired in those Hurons who have 
for many years been Christians, is the open profession which 



34 

they are accustomed to make of their faith, which is more 
difficult than one can well imagine. among a people wholly 
infidel and barbarous, without blushing for th< _ - I, nor 
caring for the insults and ridicule of die _ - - • well 

convinced were the other nations of their cy in the 

Faith, that they give them no other name than tl I 

irs, and Tim Faithful: and Bnch is the reputation ft 
them have acquired in th< m for virtu- 

the people n sm. 

( )ae of thee - . and the 

other Francis Teoronl 

continually to pra ven I 

only of God, alik tnd infidels. II - 

• in his observance of all the commando 
•• [f you but knew," 

is and the power it has 1 - 1 all 

pray to God with V 

all that your dreams iv.j . 

mts, nor - and 

6 throug 
in war. and B you I 

plainly that you l that 

sickness ami I 

<>Ut <>i ti: \ - 

en ami earth, and the S 
He gives me st 

vanced, I catch ordinarily - 

grace, better off than you arc and - with 

s, that when ; ' i all 

eternity : and - - >u will only i 

evils of this wretched life : 

- sond named Franc sT 
the hos 

itcconnt in ;. 



35 

proved faith, and lias notpasseda single day in twenty-seven 
years without saying prayers. He has instructed his wife 
and children in the Faith and reared his entire family in 
holiness. Now that he is intelligent in our mysteries and 
as be is familiar with the history of the New Testament, his 
greatest pleasure is in discoursing about it to all he meets, 
both Christian and heathen, so that if the gospel had never 
been published in this country by the missionaries, he alone 
had spoken enough of it to justify the ways of God concern- 
ing human salvation. 

He has said to me many times, that during the twenty 
years he has been separated from our Fathers, he scarcely 
passed a day without earnestly beseeching our Lord the grace 
that he should not die before being confessed and without 
having previously prayed to God with some one of the mis- 
sionaries. "Ah my God,'' he said, u Thou hast shown so 
great indulgence for me ; Thou hast already granted me so 
many favors, wilt Thou refuse me this that I now ask ? Shall 
I be so unhappy as to die without being confessed? Hast 
Thou called me to Christianity, only to leave me to finish my 
life without participating in its holy mysteries ? The frailty 
of man is so great and his nature so inclined to sin, that I 
have strong reason to tremble as guilty before Thee, and de- 
serving death eternal. And what will it avail ine to have 
been baptized, to have prayed to Thee, if I am to be so 
wretched as to be finally damned ? No, no, my God, I hope 
for this favor of Thy mercy. Thou art all powerful ; and 
when Thou dost will it, our Fathers will come to instruct us, 
and I trust in Thy pity, that I will not end my life without 
the benefit of receiving the sacraments." I doubt not that 
prayers so sacred may have contributed much to the estab- 
lishment of this mission. On learning of my arrival, the first 
thing he said to me was, " At last God has heard me. Con- 
fess me." 



At another time when conversing with him of his deceased 
parents, he said : ''Why should I regret them? My mother 
died immediately after receiving baptism. Almost all my 
near relatives have yielded their souls into the hands of the 
Fathers who have made them Christians. They are all happy 
in Paradise. I hope soon to go and find them. The grc I -• 
unhappiness I have had in my life I with a sigh, 

■• is that one of my children died i since, without 

being able to con f< t& He was thirty years old He 

hud lived badly, and though I had tak< a make him 

a good man, he ally the law of G 1 the 

warning of his father: and what affiictfi ly is that he 

died in this sad condition, without 

reconciled with ( i I e child in 

the world, and he ia at present out to war. 1 
of hiii'. I shall have hut little trouble in i 
since thou di he went a. 

This goes to show what ideas our 
while as vet they arc not fully instructed in our mw 
1 baptized the past year a yoUDg w.»:naii of 1 

tinguished of S . who died the di 

The mother was ineoi i at her 

show extraordinary affection for their children : a- . a 1 
was endeavoring to calm her e - infi- 

nite happiness her daughter was enjoying in lb 
artlessly said : 

u Thou dost not understand She wag si — .and 
had at her command more than twenl a - i still 

with me. She never knew what it was to go to the I 
to bring wood or to the river to draw wal 



■ Thia probably had reference t.> the village Totlactoa nor: Falls 

where the river was not rar distant From the town. T. - 

Greetthalgh'g risll in IW7. While resuiiii:; on the site south-west of the fall? they prob- 
ably obtained water from the small brook i! 



37 

nothing about house-keeping. Now, I have no doubt that 
being for the present the only one of our family in Par- 
adise, she will have much trouble to accustom herself to 
the change, for she will be compelled to do her own cook- 
ing, go for wood and water and provide with her own hands 
what she needs to eat and drink. In truth, is she not to be 
pitied in having no person who is able to serve her in that 
place? Thou seest here one of my slaves who is sick. I 
pray thee instruct her fully and show her the path to Ileaven, 
that she by no means miss the way, but that she may go and 
lodge with my daughter and relieve her of all the affairs of 
her household." 

I took advantage of the occasion and of the simplicity of 
this woman, to instruct the sick slave. I spoke to her ; I 
found her disposed to listen to me; I exhorted her; I in- 
structed her; she opened her eyes to the truth and desired 
of me baptism, which I could not refuse, thinking her in im- 
mediate danger of death. But God determined otherwise, 
for in time her health was restored ; and now she conducts 
herself in all respects as a worthy Christian. 

After a while, as I sought to instruct the mistress — she 
having gradually given up her low and gross notions ot 
Paradise — to enable her to form a more correct and worthy 
idea of supreme happiness, she assured me that there was 
nothing in the world she was not willing to do to reach the 
place ; that she was resolved to go and join her daughter, to 
dwell with her in the same blessed sojourn ; after which she 
remained faithful in prayer and assiduous in the means of 
instruction. She manifested the same zeal in having all 
her slaves instructed how to pray to God ; and it may be said 
that through her alone, there were won to God more than 
twenty persons. 

During the six months since I came here, I have baptized 
twenty or twenty-five savages. There are besides, ten or 



38 

twelve adults who are prepared to receive that sacrament 
Owing to the unusually abundant harvest of walnuts this 
year, the joy of the people is so great, that one - 
anything but games, dances and feasts which they carry even 
to debauch, although they have no other seas _ than the 
oil. ' But what consoles me in all these disorders is. that 
only two of our Christians have lacked the co 
the solicitations of the Soi i make a certain - 

tious banquet in which all who join the danc hot 

ashes on tin.' sick, thinking this t-. 
the diseas 

The [roquois, strictly speaking, have but nity 

and that the Dream. Th< 

and follow all its demands with Bcrupu - & The 

Senecas are much more devoted than t s. Their 

religion, in this rej i to 1 

ever they Buppose is told them in t sy 'hold t 

selves absolutely bound I as poss 

The other nations content t:. 
more important dreams ; but this 
upon as living more religiously than their s - think 

themselves guiltj 

They think ^i nothi they talk s all 

their cabins are full of their dreams. 

"They parch their as the fire m 

which afterward* preeeed, yield a milky liquor, and thi 
In tneee mingled together, they dip their < . amenta, 

them np to their go ei traordlonryda 

" m 1'1'kkm t.-TIu' kernel la thick and oily aad i 
leas, are derived tl B itternot aa I 

markets of New York and Philadelphia. The 1 - - 

poanded and hoiled them, aad separating thi 

face, mixed it with their f v thAmericea v -chof 

in nn Mn in; \ Parts, 1819 Vol l.p, 161. •• smkil-Hakk B 

dians who inhabit the shores of l.ak 

n\its for the winter, a part of which they pound in wooden mortal - 

[n water, collect the oily matter which e • ie«te." 

lb. i' 185 I - 



39 

or pains to manifest their devotion, ami their folly on this 
sfibject goes to the last measure of excess imaginable. One 
dreams during the night that he has bathed himself ; upon 
which he rises immediately, wholly naked, goes to a number 
of cabins, at each of which he makes the inmates throw over 
his body a kettle full of water, however cold it may be. 
Another who dreamed that he was taken captive or burned 
alive, caused himself to be bound the following day, after the 
manner of a prisoner to be burned, persuading himself that 
having in this way satisfied his dream, his fidelity would 
avert from him the pain and infamy of captivity or death, 
which otherwise it had been revealed by his divinity lie 
should suffer among his enemies. 

There are some who have been as far as Quebec, and trav- 
eled one hundred and fifty leagues to have a dog which they 
had dreamed they could purchase there. It is easy from this 
to judge in what peril we are every day among a people who 
would tomahawk us in cold blood, if they dreamed they 
ought to do this. Since it is a little thing that gives offence 
to a savage, it is easy for his imagination once excited, to 
represent to him in a dream that he should take vengeance 
on him who had caused the offence. We appear to ourselves 
as victims liable to be taken any moment to torture; and 
since one is made to die a hundred times by the ever present 
image of death, we esteem ourselves happy in approaching 
so near to martyrdom. 

The infidel women, by inclination natural to the sex, are 
the more devoted in observing their dreams, and following 
the commands of this idol. It is true that the worship which 
this people render, would rattier pass for a superstition than 
a form of idolatry, as they neither pay adoration to the dream 
nor offer it any sacrifice. They are confident from a certain 
infallible experience, that whatever they dream and fail to 
execute, it always comes back to them in some misfortune. 



40 

mysteriously expressed in the dream. I have remarked at 
the same time, that the greater part of these savages are 'at 
less pains to obey their dreams while in health, but the mo- 
ment they have the slightest ailment, they are persuaded 
that there is no such a for their healing, and 

to save their life, as to do all they have dreamed. The 
cerers, who are the same aa priests of their divinity, contri- 
bute DOt a little to establish them in this supers titi 
tlicv are alw; i in to explain the dream : I 

they know admirably well how to turn it to their pn 
live and enrich tl , a >oon 

us they are ' - 

declares the dream ordains, 

This is thi Faith 

amon people; and it is nol too mac that it is 

ick to th< - - • rank- 

i Father de C urhlei w\ 
tlcnlar attention, at 

Indian mind of the abenrdtty of yielding then Imj 
neatly c • abated to 

dream-, which ma] 

their religion. It,. ■ : ° combat if 

Kir-t. lli.it ii - i,eir lift '- bu t 

• i one of tl I ' om in 

Bleep and command 

• 
and obi r of their Ufa; and wheal 

they only mean, ta " " l a,ul *** ■ 

for the a of their life; and furthermore that the actual doing of the I 

they had aeen In a dream, -neir health and happiness. They also, 

some! name of to «to life to ta 

example to the skin of al 

and becanae they regard them at :fortnneofa 

long life. Thnethej take i reeern them with l l when they 

are sick COW thei - - tQ them or place them near thrir pi 

I thing 1 h.v- '• incomba: 

obedienoa they render to their dnaaat - aot able to understand 1 

BOOJ acts daring Bleep, In thus representing to them - rtanl and absent, aa if near 

and present. T'.n-y persuade themselves th.it the soul quits the b*« 
that it | -- dreamed and to the places where t ! - 

them ; and it returns into the body toward the eiul of >en all dreams are 

diaeipated." See /•". '. ■ 



41 

entie&S, strongly as they are addicted to it, nevertheless, the 
women and old men do not abandon themselves to excess. 
One is thus enabled to hope that their example and the zeal 
of the missionaries, may moderate the deportment of the 
young warriors who breathe only for blood and brandy. 

For the overthrow of this superstition of the dream, I have 
found no method more efficacious, than to make them see 
clearly and by way of inference, that the faithfulness of any 
number of people whom they know to have carried out the 
observance of their dreams, has neither saved them from death 
or captivity, nor from destruction itself of their entire nation. 
This consideration has served me, in this country, to unde- 
ceive and open the eyes of many, ihus leading them to detest 
the whole thing, both the superstition of the dream and the 
bad faith of the sorcerer. 

Nevertheless, in general, we may say, that there is nothing 
more efficacious to attract the Iroquois to the Faith, than to 
subdue their pride by the might of arms ; and by as much 
as they fear those of the French, will they lessen the obsta- 
cles to their conversion. 

God has his elect not only among the Iroquois where he 
has his missionaries, but he permits them to go forth carry- 
ing war to regions most distant, and bring back captives to 
introduce them into the sacred liberty of the children of God 
and thence to Paradise, from the prisons and fires of the Iro- 
quois. Thus we are led to adore from day to day the hidden 
and mysterious ways of Divine Providence toward his elect. 

Two captives of the Gandastogue having been brought 
here to be burned, according to the custom, the first being 
so well instructed and giving all the marks of a saintly dis- 
position to receive baptism, I conferred it, and after fifteen 
hours of terrible torture which he endured with true Chris- 
tian resignation, he left the earth to go to Heaven. The 
other at the first, was unwilling to listen to me, and having 



42 

repelled me many times, I was at length compelled to leave 
him, that at his leisure he might reflect on what I said to him 
of heaven and hell ; but in a short time he called me to him 
of his own accord, saying that it was all good, and that he 
wished to obey God and be saved. I baptized him on giving 
him the necessary instruction, after which it was manifest 
that faith was truly wrought in his heart. He was taken 
immediately to the place of torture, and from the happy mo- 
ment of his conversion to his latest breath, he £ _ 11 the 
time, with a courage invincible — "Burn my body to your 
heart's content; tear it in pieces; this torture will s 
over, after which I go to heaven ; [go to heaven tfa 
be eternally happy." Qepronounc - rdswiths 

faith and so great fervor, thato si - who 

witnessed the burning, and who did not know that I had 
instructed and baptized him, said to th< - 
"This captive has truly the Faith: it : that 

he has been instructed by - our Fatbi - 

Gandastogue " 

Thus it is that I > ts ol the 

world. A woman who had bo sonerfroma* 

try tar distant, some days after her arrival he e, was s 
with a dangerous malady. I repaired imn 
cabin where she was, to endeavo struct her; 

could not understand me, ^ ~ _ 

of her country, and it was not possible I 
as interpreter. 1 saw nevertheless that she was rapidly s 
ing, and that she was about to enter the final agony. E 
that moment my heart was cut with _ seeing 1 

of a poor soul which God had brought tot threa 

oi Paradise. Leaving the cabin, wholly ted with i 

tion and sorrow, I took myself to prayer and c 
Grod the salvation of this soul with all the fervor of wi, 
was capable : I employed at this same 



43 

Holy Virgin of all the saints. At last, havingfor along time 
invoked the compassion of our Lord in behalf of this woman, 
I was strongly inclined, to return to her cabin and recommit 
\\ov to her good Angel. 

Scarcely had I done the one and the other, when I saw en- 
ter two women whom I did not know, and who were nol of 
the town where 1 reside; the one and then the other ap- 
proached near the sick one and giving her many caresses, as- 
sured her that they were come to console her and that they 
would by no means leave her. A meeting so happy, so un- 
lookecl for, greatly surprised me, since I could not but think 
that this meant that God had sent two Angels from Heaven 
to instruct and baptize this poor woman. I then asked if 
they were willing to serve me as interpreters, to procure for 
the sick person, about to expire, eternal happiness. They 
both offered themselves to render this good office. I ex- 
plained to her the mysteries of our Faith ; they repeated all 
my words in her language, with plainness and also such 
unction as enlightened the spirit of the sick one and at the 
same time touched her heart. I was delighted with the zeal 
and fervor with which each of these good catechists labored 
for the instruction of this foreigner. They exhorted her and 
pressed her to quickly open her eyes to the truth, since she 
had but a very short time to live. 

They pointed her to the open heaven ready to receive her. 
Not content with faithfully interpreting my words, they 
added, themselves, motives and reasons, which at last com- 
pelled this poor woman, who was scarcely able to speak, to 
make a final effort for her salvation. She then caused me 
to approach her bed and gave me to perceive that God Him- 
self had instructed her, and that He had in this short time 
wrought in her great things. I baptized her as quickly as 
possible, seeing her so well disposed, and in some moments 
after, she expired to go and possess in heaven eternal glory. 



44 

Is not this a miracle of the grace of God I And should 
we not be thrice happy that lie is so willing to serve Him- 
self of us, as the instrument of Plis mercy? 



IV. 



The conclusion of Father Fremiti's narrative, discloses some 
of the more serious obstacles encountered by the missionaries 
in their work, and at the same time gives a vivid picture of 
Iroquois life and manners more than two centuries ago. The 
brief reference to the Cayuga mission, recalls the labors of 
the devoted and gentle Menard, its founder in 1657, who, 
four years after, lost his life among the forests which bor- 
dered Lake Superior, while on his way to plant the cross 
among the savage tribes of that distant region, as he was 
among the first to do on the banks of our own Cayuga. 1 

i Father Rene Menard, who was born in 1604, hud been in France confessor to Mad- 
ame Daillebont, one of the founders of Montreal ; but of his previous history we know 
nothing. He came to Canada in the Esperance, which sailed from Dieppe on the 26th of 
March, 1640, and, after being compelled to put back by storms, reached Quebec in July. 
After being director of the Ursulines, he was sent to the Huron country, and succeeded 
Raymbaut as missionary of the Algonquins, Nipissings, and Atontratas. On the fall of 
the Hurons he was stationed at Three Rivers until May 1656, when he accompanied the 
French expedition to Onondaga, and from thence accompanied Chaumonot to the Cay- 
ugas in August of the same year. He remained for two months, when he was recalled 
to Onondaga, but soon after returned and remained until the missions were broken up 
in 1657 ; after which he returned to Three Rivers, and remained there until he was 
chosen in August 1660 to succeed Garreau in an attempt to begin missions among the 
Western Algonquin tribes. He set out with a flotilla of Indians and after great suffer- 
ing reached Lake Superior and founded the mission of St. Teresa among the Ottawas 
at Keweenaw Bay, Oct. 15. He labored here during the winter and was planning a mis- 
sion among the Dakotas, when his services were urgently solicited by a band of Hurons 
then at the source of the Black river, a branch of the Mississippi. He set out for their 
village in July 1661, and perished of famine or by an Indian hand, near the source of the 
Wisconsin in Lake Vieux Desert in the early part of August 1661. For the place of his 
death, which has been much debated, we adopt the theory of Rev. E. Jacker, who to 
a close study of the data, adds a personal knowledge of Indian life and their trials in 
Wisconsin and Michigan. 



46 

The narrative of Father Fremin (chap. IX. Relation, 1670 
is concluded as follows : 

Before finishing this Relation concerning our Iroquois mis- 
sions. I will give here in the form of a journal, what remains 
to be said of the condition in which they are at present, 
of what has occurred this \ 

As there were no more sick in Tsonnontoiiau, I started on 
a journey to Onondaga, where the miss 
try meet to confer together on the methods of laboring more 
efficiently for the salvation of tin — . and of o 

ing the numerous i 



Ir 10 occurred thai daring I reoiln at the mi-r-ionary council 
bold in <»n"! •• He, in company with two priests of the Bulpftlaa oi 

Dollier de I lassou i n flnnnran In 

hi- iii-r expedition i<> i i The party 
landed at [rondeqnoit Bay, th- 

nontouan, distant abonl twenty mil'- that Kather 

Fremin arrived at Cayuga on b Iter be 

had left the Seneca villsgi L B >m the land. 

ingplai • company of] tithe twelfth 

. ;-:, ami which Is described in the Joornslof the . collection of 

cabins surrounded \\ i t ! » i ter at the lop 

and supported at the base, behind th- 

of a in. in. The curtains are n Banked bat form 

fectljr square, so thai thee ancil held '!.• 

day, the servant of Father Pren .... exchanged. 

;robably the 
Ootouagannb itins, nation <>r • \ : ,t tads 

time located in the southern part of pros ntWisconi M ^nd the 

Mississippi) might be given hit that people. 

This they promised to do as soon at the young men, wh h the 

Dutch to whom they carried all their captives, should retuni. which it>ly be 

in ten "!• twelve days. In the meanwhile a quantity of Datch *>ra:. 

the village, followed, as neuaibj a drunken debaach, la which La Salle andbisasso- 
elates were threatened with death; and sToagenha captive whom they desired for a 

guide, was pat io the most cruel torture of »i\ hours' dui RJSSCnl 

s and prepared for ths feast Thus the visit of l .- - - 

in disappointment, and bj the detention he 

I he expedition reached no farther than the month of Grand river on the north. - 
of Lake Brie. Then they were overtaken by t'.ie winter and made their camp in the 
neighboring woods, where they remained until the fol. 
and Qalinee went west. La Salle having returned to Montreal the previous autumn. 

It has been alleged that Kather Fremiti left Tsonnontouan for Onondaga at this par- 
ticular time, to avoid acting as interpreter to La Salle and Um v 



47 

The 10th of August, 1669, I had the happiness to embrace 
Father de Carheil at Oiogoiien (Cayuga), from whence I wrote 
to the others of our Fathers, who are among the Iroquois, to 
assemble at Onondaga the last of the month, where we would 
meet them. I had the leisure in the meanwhile, to tarry 
some days at this mission, where I was witness of the faith 
and courage of the earlier Christians whom the late Father 
Menard had, himself, baptized ; many even of the infidels 
themselves, had not forgotten the prayers which he had 
taught them. Indeed all in this recent church, gave me very 
great consolation and strong hope of the conversion of the 
entire country. Father de Carheil is greatly beloved. No 
one opposes the Faith. Many of the sachems come to pray 
to God in his little chapel. He has undertaken another, 
which is to be much larger and more commodious, and which 
will be completed in a couple of months. I think that then 
they will come in great numbers to worship God. It is Rene, 



object of their enterprise. But there is no evidence that he was notified of their com- 
ing, much less that his assistance was desired. Indeed the narrative of Galinee would 
seem to dispose of the whole story as an after thought. Speaking of the council held 
on their arrival at the Seneca town, he says : '" When we saw the assembly large enough 
we began to talk of business, and then it was that Mr. de la Salle avowed that he was 
not able to make himself understood." The inference here is that, his Sulpitian com. 
panions had been led to suppose La Salle capable of conversing with the Senecas, and 
only when it came to the point, was it discovered that he could not. But more than 
this. The narrative continues : " On the other hand, my interpreter saw that he did 
not know French well enough to make himself well understood by us, hence we deemed 
it more expedient to make use of Father Fremin's man to make our speech aud to 
report to us what the Indians might say ; and in fact the matter was so transacted It 
is to be remarked that Father Fremin was not then at his mission station, but had gone 
a few days before to Onondaga to attend a meeting to be held of all the missionaries 
scattered among the Five Iroquois nations. There was only Father Fremin's man 
>there who served as an interpreter. 11 It appears then, that Dollier de Casson had an in- 
terpreter also, who broke down, and that then they applied to Father Fremin's man, a 
donne or mission aid. who actually did all they required. 

There is no hint in the whole narrative of dissatisfaction with Fremin's man, or of 
any reluctance on his part to serve them. In fact, the impression from the whole is, 
that they came prepared, entirely independent of the missionary, but when La Salle 
and Dollier de Cassort's interpreter, both admitted their inability, they were thankful to 
obtain the services of Fremiti's man. Parkman, in his La Salle, &c, (1880) p. 14, com- 
pared with his Discovery of the Great West (18(19) p. 13, completely rejects the charge of 
La Salle ajrainst the Jesuits. 



4S 

his associate, who is both the architect and builder. It will 
in no respect resemble the cabins of the savag s, : <pt in its 
covering of bark. In all other particulars it will resemble a 
house such as they build in France. Behind the altar he 
contrived to make a small room. Every one in the whole 
town speaks of the skill of £ B - snsesvari 

icines which he prepares, himself, on th 
kinds of wounds and heals them; he treat* 
Many Cayugas said tome, that but for him I 
died. ( me cannot b 

these savages Would that it might pi - G to of 

our missions had a man like him ! 
The 20th of August, Fat 

[ Father Stkphbh di Cabssi 
the Society i 

Benl to the Cayuga Mission In :< ■ •• a the break 

of the iroquoic Mission, when be was driven from the 
noa, tin- two principal chief* of the tribe. He th< 
Mission, where he labored until early in tin iry. Charic 

in 1781, St ili' He bad 

sacrificed th< and in 

hopes of a fate like that «>f many <>r bis brethren, th iheir 

blood, be bad employed I kind ■ to obtain a i: 

obscurity sheltered him from all ambition 

labored nnUringly for more thai i with ei 

much ease and eh - in both th< - 

French and Indian-* concurred in i - i saint and _ 

highest order, it w i the inflai i 

Chief, Kondiaront, commonly known 

Who, (himself Sn extraordinary man it two 

Frenchmen of talent in all Canada, thi CarheU. The 

Indian name of this Father whs A ■ Unprassed 

hi-* courage by acting ss ■ sentinel <>n a certain occat n rumor that a party of 

Audastes, their mosl dreaded enemiet r at hand, as with 

alarm, and when he accompanied their war - i xpected att.> 

and while stationed a: Mtchillmaclnac he bore a prom wna* 

'•The Brandy Quarrel,*' in resisting with i the power of the 

pen. what he styles (in his letter to the French Intendant ■• the deplorable and infa- 
mous tratlie in brandy. " which lied. 

tality, violence, acorn and insult.' 1 among the Indians, till it had become impo.— 
maintain the missions, and nothing remained " but to abandon them to brandy - 
as a domain of drunkenness and debaih bery." ' arheil died at Quebec in 

July. iTOti. at the advanced a_v - For a moi .. of tbi* ac- 

complished missionary, see Etnrty Ohm - - 



49 

rived at Onondaga, where in waiting for Father Bruyas who 
is at Oneida, and Father Pierron who is at .Mohawk, I had 
time to consider the affairs of our early mission; and all 
appeared in the same state it was when we left it, in the year 
1658, except that the Onondagas were greatly humiliated 
shortly after by the Gandastogue, as nearly all their braves 
had been slain in the war. They spoke to us with great gen- 
tleness, and in all respects were more tractable than before. 
There is a church of early Christians, which numbers about 
forty who live becomingly. Many present themselves for 
instruction. Garacontie is our true friend. That Prince and 
Orator visited me with all the courtesy imaginable and did 
for us many kindnesses. 

The 26th of August, Father Bruyas 1 and Pierron arrived, 
and we had the consolation of seeing our entire number (six) 2 

i Father James Bruyas, was a native of Lyons, arrived at Quebec, August 3d, 1666 
and on the 14th of July, of the following year, set out for the Mohawk country and 
thence in September for Oneida. Having been appointed chief of all the Iroquois 
missions, in 1671 he returned to the Mohawks. He was among the Senecas in 1673, but 
returned to the Mohawks and remained there until succeeded by Father Francis Vaillant 
at Tionnontoguen, in 1679. In 1684 he was in charge of the mission at the Sault St. 
Louis, on the Si. Lawrence, and in 1687 accompanied the French expedition against the 
Senecas under Denonville. He was again at the Sault in 1691, and in 1693 became supe- 
rior of his order in Canada and retained this position until 1700. In 1C99 the Onondagas 
being desirous to conclude a peace, visited Montreal and invited Father Bruyas, to 
return as Ambassador with them, but their request was refused until they would con- 
clude a treaty at Montreal, and in the fall of that year he was sent with Major La Val- 
liere with the king's letter announcing the termination of hostilities between England 
and France, {La Potherie, IV. 131.) In the summer of 1700 the Iroquois renewed their 
request and Father Bruyas proceeded to Onondaga {La Potherie, IV. 148,) where he ar- 
rived in August and returned the month following with a delegation that concluded a 
final peace between the French and Five Nations which lasted for more than 50 years. 
He visited Onondaga again in July 1701 on public affairs, and acted as interpreter to the 
Iroquois at the grand ratification of peace in August following, by all the Indians {La 
Potherie, IV. 24 1.) His death took place among the Iroquois in 1712. He was the best au- 
thority of his day as a philologist of the Mohawk language, and compiled several works 
in that dialect. (His Racines Agrderes published by Dr. Shea as number X. of his lin- 
guistics.) 

•> Including Fathers Garnier andMilet at Onondaga, whose names are not given in the 
text. Father Pierron was transferred the following year from the Mohawk to the 
Seneca Mission and Garnier accompanied Freminon his return to the Senecas. Father 
Pierre Milet arrived in Canada in 1667, and was sent the following year to Onondaga 



50 

together to deliberate on all matters, during the six days we 
were engaged in concerting measures needful to the success 
of our missions, and for overcoming the obstacles which hin- 
der the progress of the Faith in the country of the Iroquois. 

As we were about to separate, lo an Iroquois messenge 
Monsieur, the Governor, arrived there from Montreal, with 
belts of wampum, and letters from your Reverence and from 
Father Cliaumonot, by which we were advised that the 
French had massacred, near Montreal, seven - with 
one of the most distinguished of the S - Thia 

produced a terrib tion. A 

council was held immediately to deliberate on what had been 
done, and at which we summoned to be present T 

deputy coldly rehearsed the whole affair. II - >ld to 
change on his own responsibility, the _ I 

beautiful our of five thousand beads, all black, which he 
corded to this nation and only gave to 1 S 3 1 

was the leasl - Bui I le letter of Father Chaumo- 

uot had informed us of al II strenu- 

ously opposed him in this, and at 
in strict accordance with his instructions I i 
met. in the town, one from S 
was for that nation, saying to him : 



where he received the name of Teharonhiagannra, or the looker up 10 heaven. B 

removed t>> Oneida in 1671 and labored there until July 1684, when he left n 

la Barre on Lake st. Prancia, Aug. I. At the reqneet of the Harqaic He, he 

was appointed Chaplain to Fort Front, nac in 1683, when 

and in 1688 ancceeded de Lambervttle aa Chaplain of the fori N urned 

to Fort Frontenac in 1680, and being lured outside the | attend a d\ 

dian. was taken prisoner by the Oncidas and hi- life saved l>y adoption into an < I 
family. During hie captivity the English made many efl - get him 

in their power, for which purpose Governor Fletcher - - - 'neida 

lie was adopted into the trii>e by a christian agonnder, Susan Qou ;id re- 

ceived the name of QtSMOte, that of the leading sachem of the first or Turtle branch of 
the tribe. Father Milet continued in thiscapacity until the fa'; he returned 

to Quebec Be asked to be returned again as missionary • I ana, but the 

aspect Of the times did not permit it. Charlevoix who was in Canada ft. I 
lived several years with Milet and speaks of him in terms of high esteem. Father 
Milet died at Quebec. Dec. SI, 1708. 



51 

go myself. Represent thou to thy sachems the voice and 
desire of Onontio." As to the belt designed for those of 
Oneida, he said that since they would shortly come to Onon- 
daga to hold a general council, he would make known to 
them the will of Onontio. Without doubt a single affair of 
this nature is most unfortunate, and is enough to rekindle 
war between the Iroquois and French. 

Scarcely had the council finished its business, when there 
was heard through the town, the cry of an Oneida, who had 
fortunately escaped from the hands of a troop of warriors of 
the nation of the Nez Perces. At this cry, they reassembled 
in council, to listen to the rehearsal of the adventure. " We 
were," he said, "five in one band. We were returning victo- 
rious with two prisoners, of Toiiagannha ; but unfortunately 
encountering a company of warriors of the nation of the Nez 
Perces, we were defeated, my four comrades having been 
slain, or taken together with our two captives ; I alone am 
escaped from the combat. 1 Consider well the matter in dis- 
pute and how it should rouse to vengeance a people so fierce 
and indomitable as are the Iroquois." We did not learn 
what action was taken on the subject. What I am able to 
assure you is, that we are, by the grace of God, prepared for 
any event, according as it shall please Him to dispose of us, 
and that we esteem ourselves too happy to be able to offer 
our lives a sacrifice to Him. 

Taking our departure from Onondaga, we arrived on the 7th 
of September, at Gandachio-ragou;' 2 and, as we were passing- 
through Gandagaro, 8 a drunken savage seized Father Gar- 
nier with one hand and raised the other at two different times 
to stab him with a knife ; but fortunately, a woman happened 
near enough to this barbarian, to wrest the knife from his 



i Here we have evidence of the proximity of the Toiiasannha to the Nez Perces or 
Pierced Noses. 

-' See Seneca Towns, p. 25. 3 Ibid. 



52 

hand, and prevented him from carrying farther bis brutal 
design. I could not but admire in this encounter, the firm- 
ness and self-; .1 of the Father who did not betray 
least sign of fear. 

Three days after our arrival, he took charge of the arise 
of Gandachioragou, 1 where there are three or four Christians 
who have made open profess i their faith. li- 
the charge of a si n, at leaf ir, in 
order that he may have time to acquin 
language of the country, and - ind a 
dictionary, that he may instruct the 
obliged • ire of the 

The twenty-seventh 
to ase 5t M I - I 

ill. and compelled t<> remain I 3 - until the 

lence of the attack was 

After ill.- first of Sept 
cording to the cus it for the open country; and 

if the inhabitants wh< tigues 

the war or the chase, foil - Of t 

are about five hundn ar, divided into m 

hands wl inst the . .ilia, and four or 

hundred t<> hunt the heaver, which 
of the country of the 11 

and children with them. s<> that I aain onl\ 

number of old people 1 learn that it is the - tG 

gouen, and that th divide th s sintohu 

warriors. This is very deplorable! as 1 a - t num- 
bers from these nations die without baptifi 
ditions are attended with the 3S of 1 

Sfrieves me is that we arc not able to remedv the evil. B I 
God who knows His eleel lo - »t fail to furnish them the 



1 See Seneca Towns, p -j.v 



53 

favorable opportunity to gain Paradise. We are often hin- 
dered by sueh absences and expeditions common to these 
people, from laboring for their instruction with the success 
we could desire. The greater part of those who belong to 
the towns where we were established, are away either at the 
war or the chase, nine months out of the year; and for ;i 
month previous to their departure, the youth are accustomed 
to abandon themselves to excess in drinking, till they become 
furious ; so that excepting the old people and the women 
who are not addicted to such disorders, it is next to impos- 
sible to find opportunity to speak to them. 

The Seneca arrived by way of Onondaga, in charge of the 
belt of wampum, which Onontio sent to the Senecas, in the 
matter of the death of one of their warriors, who was slain 
by the French. The belt was received with a marked cold- 
ness, and although the exemplary punishment which Mon- 
sieur the Governor inflicted upon the assassins, led them to 
approve of his conduct and applaud his justice, I think, nev- 
ertheless, that they would have been much better satisfied 
with ten belts of wampum than with the death of three 
Frenchmen, since they would not be disposed to render the 
same justice in similar circumstances. They declare, how- 
ever, that they are content with this satisfaction ; and I do 
not think they will dare to carry their resentment farther, 
nor attempt anything against the French. 

The 27th of September, as I thought myself sufficiently 
recovered from my illness, I set out on the journey, to take 
charge of the mission of St. Michael in the town called Gan- 
dagarae. 1 Our brave Christian, Francis Tehoronhiongo, met 
me and conducted me to one of the finer cabins of the town, 
that of a person of consideration although an unbeliever, 
whose authority gave me protection against the insolence of 
the drunkards. 

The third of November, which was the Sunday after the 

1 Sec Seneca Towns, p. 25. 



54 

Festival of All Saints, the chapel being in order, I invited 
all our savages to come there to pray to God and be present 
at the Mass, which I was to say early in the morning. The 
chapel being full of people, I began my exhortation 1 
daring the object of mv coming, and accordingly begs 
them to open their eyes to the truth, to recognize the G< 
heaven and earth, to put away every 

ing to Him, and by their consistent fidelity, render them- 
selves worthy of eternal happiness. I hope of the g 
of God, that I! - will dispose their minds to relish the 

truth of Cbristianity f and undeceive their vaii - 51 lion. 

beside drunkenness and the dream which are the 
cles to the Faith among the Iroqu - 

Father Gamier continues to labor bravely in 
Gandachioragou. i I - him for I 

version of some souls toward whom Eis 
extraordinary. More than twenty - s, happily, ha 
been baptized, died i -' like B r it > 

thai suffering - 

that one must give himself up to the provid G 

laboring bard, and leading a life whic 
continual death. 

The missionary lab Father r'remin in N Y 

close with the foregoing narrative, he 1: 
t<> important service in the vicinity 



,. r i UD8 ir.KMiN arrivnl ii. I 

ondagatn ]<>;><> ami remained thero until the breaking «p of the i - - March. 

1667 : was then for two n and Cape dels 

Madeleine. In i860 he a - -- 

next year was sent to the Mohawka. Near thai - 8 is and 

resided at Sonnontouan and remained there until Qaraierinthe 

following year, when he r hinged hi* 

Seneca villages, laboring in that village and I 

ami assigned to the mission of St. Francis I La Prairit 

mission was removed to the 8a 9 8 in 1676, and in 161 

behalf. He waa again in Canada m 1684 . . 



Y. 



The last, chapter concluded the account of the mission for 
the year 1669 when Father Fremiti was called to the residence 
of St. Francis Xavier 1 opposite Montreal, leaving Father 
Gamier insole charge of the Seneca Mission. The follow- 
ing narrative for the succeeding year is contained in Chapter 
V. of Relation 1671 : Second part. 

Although the nation of the Seneca may be more rude and 
savage, having less intercourse with the French, and farther 
from the requisite disposition to embrace the Faith, neverthe- 
less our Fathers who have labored in their missions for the 
past two years, have found there choice souls ; and Father 
Gamier who at present has the entire charge of them, requests 
assistance in the hope that these people who are more numer- 
ous than all the other Iroquois, may at length be tamed, and 
give excellent scope to the zeai of the missionaries whom it 
may please God to send among them. The little that he 
sends us is well adapted to touch and attract hearts tilled 
with the Holy Spirit. The miracles of grace wrought there, 
give us to see that the hand of God is not shortened ; more 
than one hundred and ten baptized this year, are manifest 



1 The place was originally designed as aresort for the missionary Fathers, to which they 
might retire in their annual retreats or in case of sickness ; but it had already become 
a mission home where converts from the several Iroquois cantons might take refuge from 
the constant persecution of their own kindred, and also from the bad example and cor- 
rupting influence of their Pagan countrymen who were becoming more and more 
debauched by their intercourse with New York traders. The new village increased 
rapidly, and in 1674, had its organized government with permanent Christian institutions. 



proofs of this, as well as the fervor and courage of some souls 
of the elect. 

An old Christian named Frai ronhiongoof the first 
of the church of St Michael, distinguished for his eminent 
virtue and for the authority he has acquired over those of his 
own nation (Hurons . having recently lost by death an inti- 
mate friend, a 'i I and very virt - Christian, vt 

denly, was so imj ressed by the - ce of th- 

an'' • of dying well, and the necessity of being 
moment to make the >n which lernal hap- 

piness or misery, thai be is i thoughts 

Such was ili upon him, that from that 

time he formed tl ition, which Ik- has in\ .:ej>t. 

to debar himself from all feasts whi 
of Buperstition or of sin ; and 
the infidel .-.«■ 

plishment <•:' their dn • m in 

the towns Si M St.. 

approach him or any of 

since he had douc with this thes 

things at his baptism ; and as he di 
anything divine, bo he would neither render worship I 
ou n dream or the dreams of 

One f thes 
great and desire I ching him io 

course «>f this public eeremonv wi: 

accorded to him what he had dreamed, he would i aim. 

as is the belief of these people, all the misfortun< st 

befall him. the menanee did not in the l« irb him. 

He replied, proudly, that b stian, he had 

he made the same reply to all who importuned him on the 

subject This Christian consistei - for him - 

confidence and respect, that if he happened am y in 

a gathering where the infidels sing togei 



57 

things immodest or to the disparagement of the Faith or of 
Christianity, they immediately change their conversation ; 
many apply to him for instruction in our holy mysteries 
which he understands perfectly ; also to learn the prayers. 1 

Divine Providence serves himself the oftener of affliction to 
dispose them to listen to his holy speech; humiliation and 
misfortune render them the more docile. The same Father 
writes us that never has he had more attentive hearing than 
since the burning of the town of St. Michael which occurred 
last spring, when all the cabins with the chapel, were re- 
duced to ashes, without the possibility of saving anything, 
neither furniture, corn, nor anything necessary to life. These 
poor people do not appear in any wise troubled by it, but 
on the contrary they testify to the Father that they recog- 
nize God has punished them justly for their infidelity and 
the resistance they had maintained till then, to the progress 
of the gospel. They beg earnestly that he will by no means 
leave them ; they promise so soon as they have rebuilt their 
cabins and their palisade for security against their enemies, 
to set up a chapel much more beautiful than the former one, 
and that they will be more assiduous in prayer than in the 
past. The Father adds that they make their protestation in 
terms so strong and with such marks of sincerity, that he is 
firmly persuaded they will keep -their word. Fiat, fiat. 

We recognize even more sensibly in their fatal maladies 
the effects of grace, and the fruits the daily instructions pro- 



1 This aged man and his wife left the Seneca towns in 1677, with a son and a grand- 
child lo spend their remaining days at the mission of the Mountain of Montreal ; hav- 
ing become free by the death of the heads of the cabin in which he had been so long a 
slave. He was received there with joy ; already known by the annual Relations of the 
Jesuits for his fervent piety, he justified his reputation by his conduct at the mission by 
his labors for the poor and afflicted, where he finally became blind, as was supposed by 
his intense devotion. He died in 1690, at the advanced age of 100 years ; and the in- 
scription over the place of his burial, in one of the ancient towers on the Mountain of 
Montreal, reads : " He was by his piety and probity the example of Christians, and the 
wonder of unbelievers. 11 



duce on minds that, at the time, appear the more rebellious 
and opposed to the Faith. I give here among othe:- 
three examples which appear to be attended with cire 
stances the more remarkable. 

A Seneca of the town of St James, 
son of consideration, having been taken sick, the Father 
visited him and offered on his part to render him all 
assistance for the relief of his malady and the - tion of 
his .-"m!. II I both roughly, so that the Father 

compelled to withdraw aft 

11. it to prejudice him at th< Many daya - I with 

him in this ill nature, during which the Father w ;i ~ 
do i iot hi: le with God for 1 

one, who to all human appearai 

and in unbelief, th - I and all ss to 

him denied. 

In the meanwhile, the Father was well appi l he 

was visibly sinking, which was to him an 

row. It is only for those who have had I 

understand what it is to S - infortui : I - . that 

one has come 

without being abli aid and succor in rescuii _ 

the danger : but the - ( i - i Hims 

equally favorable to the poors s to t 

arch of earth. 1 Ins ha; 1 him in an 

for manner. A- thes 

was permitted that in bleep he - I see 1 

gave him a medicine most effi< 

was enough to induce him to send with all 

and, on his own part, 

him Immediately, lie was found at St M 

awaiting the moment of he had _ his 



Gandagara. Set? note on Seneca towns 



59 



en 



arch. He left everything at this news and returned with 
all possible speed. The sick man was overjoyed at his can- 
ing; made him take a seat at his bed and said to him; 
" Ourasera (which is the Indian name for the Father) give 
me, I pray thee, immediately, the medicine; I have seen it, 
while dreaming, in thy hands and it will cure me." "Ah, 
my brother," replied the Father, " most willingly, I am about 
to give thee a medicine, but very different and far better than 
that which thou hast seen in the dream ; thou art in no 
farther need for the body, which is in no condition to be 
benefited ; a medicine of this nature, would only serve to 
hasten the end of thy life. The great Master of life, who 
loves thee, commands me to give thee a medicine which is 
wholly heavenly, and will restore life and health to thy soul ; 
deliver it from eternal death ; procure for it instead of this 
poor life which we have in common with the animals, a life 
of everlasting happiness in heaven, by the help of baptism." 
While the Father was speaking, the Holy Spirit wrought 
upon the heart of the savage, and at the word baptism of 
which he had spoken many times without effect, he roused 
himself as from a deep sleep and besought him, earnestly, to 
remind him of the instructions, which at other times he had 
given him to prepare him to receive the sacrament. This 
the Father was prompt to do, and the sick man listened with 
joy and consolation. Having nevertheless judged it proper 
to defer his baptism until the morrow, at the break of day he 
visited him and found him in holy impatience to see himself 
of the number of the children of God, having passed the en- 
tire night in acts of faith and contrition, and in reciting the 
prayers taught him the previous day, which in no particular 
had he forgotten, so far as observed by the Father, the sick 
one having repeated them from memory in his presence. He 
then received holy baptism with sincere devotion ; and hav- 
ing passed the whole day and night in praising God, asking 



60 

that he might be taken to paradise, he died the folio? 
day, leaving this impression with hid pastor, that 1. 
faliibly of the number of the p 

I conclude this chapter with an extract from a letter which 
I have received from this san - nary in thee 

" Drunken™ - I by the rhich the in:. 

obtain from the Hollanders, brought more than eig I 
leagues by land, is now more universal tha 
even to the women ; and I ntinue f< 

or fifteen daya after the arrival of each band i 
ing all this time as there is neither f<><»d nor fire in their 
cabins, they are abandoned day and night Tl : the 

people flee for concealment to I 
Amid all this debauchery, the virtue of our < - a 

out brightly. r J 
great aversion t<» thes 
profession. The drunkards, thems 
that they do not come We I ai 

semblies as usual <>u Sundays, and our i ither 

with great pains from their hi n with 

as much quiet and d< 
1 have more concern for tl .-»t kno* 

them. 1 ha\ 8 QOt failed tO ha: I 

them, an adult, who after i j ranch 

consolation. He was a catechumen and sufficiently diligent in 
the ordinary prayers U e day, finding him very ill, lju 
it propei-, with bis are him :• -m. I in- 

structed him to this end, in the n 

caused him to perform the acts nee u e him for 

this sacrament, which, nevertheless 
ferred. Then finding him delirious and in dan- ath, 1 



i TbiawM often tbeoalyrefoge of tbomiac - 

from various* - - - - . but more eapecki - ^<s»uch as art h«rr 

described. 



61 

did not scruple to baptize him. Some time after coming to 
himself, he called me and said angrily that I had deceived 
him; that in his dream he had found himself in heaven 
where the French had received him with the whoops that 
they (savages) are accustomed to make on the arrival of their 
captives of war, and that at the time he made his escape, they 
already had the tire brands in their hands to burn him. As 
for the rest, that the water which I poured upon his head 
was a spell and sorcery which would cause his death or fix 
his fate to be burned eternally in the other world. I had 
recourse to God, more especially, in this juncture so unex- 
pected ; and at last, He gave me grace after three hours of 
conflict, with mildness and kindness, to convince and unde- 
ceive him. He gave up all these delusions caused by the 
demon that would destroy him. He recovered with admira- 
ble behavior his first thoughts, and the sentiments of a soul 
truly converted. He only desired to die. rather than offend 
God any more, and be eternally happy in heaven. He made 
of his own accord a petition at the close of the ordinary 
prayers in these words : " Thou who art in heaven have pity 
on me; draw me, as soon as possible from here below, that I 
may be perfectly happy in heaven." 

One other sick person has consoled me still more, acting in 
the matter of his health in a most extraordinary manner for 
a savage, and who has given noble testimony to the Faith. 
To gain him to God, besides the frequent instructions I gave 
him, I spared myself in no respect night or day, to minister 
to him and lead him to believe that I strongly desired his 
recovery. One day, perceiving clearly that my remedies were 
without effect, and that he was continuity growing worse, 
nevertheless, seeing my extraordinary earnestness to relieve 
him, he said to me: "My brother, I see well that thou art 
my friend, but I pray thee no linger think of my body, but 
apply thyself rather to save my soul ; it is all over ; I shall 



62 

die ; I can no longer doubt, and what is important is to die 
well." I then instructed him fully and baptized him. From 
that time, well satisfied and thinking only of Paradise, he 
commenced to sing his song, which they call the death song. 
but in very different terms from those he formerly would 
have used, in strait* or while an unbeliever. " It is Jes - 
he said, " who is the Master of my life : he leads me to heaven, 
never more to sin : nevermore to dream; the great M 
in heaven forbids it." These were his last sentiments which 
he clung to even unto death. 

After all it is to be confessed that thee 
opposed to the Faith, and that the convers 
savage is a stroke from heaven. The freedom that they c 
ish more than their life; the ai which is their nature 

as well as the fickleness of their resolutions: the imparity in 
which they are reared ; th< attachment they have 

their dreams and superstition- - 3ports and 

dinary occupation in thechase and in the war. which rei 
them unsettled and keeps them for the most of the time in 
the field or forest, besides the demon of drunkenness, which 
has possessed them for ears, are withoul 

hinderances for the permanent establishment of relig 
Nevertheless, the zeal, the trust, the devotion, patience and 
forbearance of our missionaries, surmount all t: - 
and give us reason to hope tiiat God will increase the b — 
ings already bestowed, beyond even what 11 senl 

to their labors. It is already a gnat advantage, that they 
know the language; that they have found access t<> their 
minds ; that they are loved and esteemed among them ; that 
they have entire freedom to preach, in public and pri 
the word of God, and that there is scarcely a family in all 
their country thai is not more or less instructed in the prin- 
cipal mysteries of our Faith. Many possess the E 
although still attached to their evil customs and are not 






63 

• 
Christians by profession. They evince this in their maladies 
when often of their own accord, they send for our Fathers 
lest tbey should die without baptism. 

Prayers are regularly observed in each town, both morning 
and evening, in the chapel where the catechumens arc gath- 
ered, and where Christians receive on Sunday the sacraments- 
There also they go through the catechism, in addition to the 
instructions given them each day in their cabins. Numbers 
of little children escape to heaven through the grace of bap- 
tism, it being one of the chief solicitudes of our Fathers to see 
to it that not a single one of these dies without the sacrament. 
It is thus that, in spite of hell, these little churches make pro- 
gress. There is none of them that does not contain choice 
souls, who imitate the fervor and charity of the Christians of 
the first ages, and furnish by their good example a powerful 
motive for the conversion of others. In a word, our evangel- 
ical laborers are so far from thinking that there is nothing to 
be done for the Faith among these peoples, that the^v call 
upon us from all sides and ask us for reinforcements with all 
conceivable urgency, particularly those who labor in these 
lands full of briers and thorns, for the culture of peoples more 
barbarous and rebellious toward the Gospel. 



VI. 



The following letter of Father Julian Gamier, still in - 
charge of the three missions of the Conception. St. Michael 
and St. James, occupies Chap. ATI. First Part .»t /,' 
1672. 

The spiritual condition of these missions, depends larg 
upon temporal affairs, and more than all on the disposition of 
mind to maintain peace with the French. . - ichems of 
the town of Gandachioragoa 1 had given m 
in a council assembled for the purpose, that they desired to 
pray to God, and in tact certain «>f them began t<> do this: 
and though I had not seen in them * - itial prin- 

ciples of the Faith, nevertheless, their exam] 
to listen t<> meand gave me every liberty to visit and instruct 
the Bick. Hut rumors of a French invasion, v< 
overturned these small beginnings, Their min< 
thus badly disposed, the evil one take- 3 9e an 

outcry against the Faith and those wh< An old 

man who came here sou, - i — a 

troublesome spirit, but skillful in - 

will with our Senecas and pas- - -m for a wonder- 

ful person proves to them that the Faith produces death, 
for the reason that of whole families who formerly embn 
n. when the late Father Menard, the posl OllSfi nary, 

resided at Cayuga, not a Bingle soul, as he . 
lie further says, that the Black-gowns are only her. s 
who report everything to Onontio. that is. Monsieur the I 

i See note on Seneca town*. ; 



65 

ernor, or that they arc sorcerers who accomplish by disease 
what Onontio could not effect by force of arms. I know of 
a certainty that they have deliberated concerning ray death 
as a spy and as a sorcerer; our host himself, Onnonkenrita- 
oiii, 1 the most prominent of the chiefs of this great nation, 
has often proposed to his sister to kill me, while she, at the 
same time, has shown a great distrust of me on account of 
her little daughter who often fell sick. As I do not retire 
at as early an hour as is their custom, and as I remain a 
considerable time in the evening, to pray to God in the 
chapel, they persuade themselves that I cannot employ my- 
self in any other manner, than in holding communication 
with some demon in plotting the ruin of their family. Thus 
my life, humanly speaking, depends upon the health of this 
little daughter, and I run a great risk of losing it, if she 
should die. There would be as much cause for me to fear, 
should any one bring the news of the probable march of the 
French into this country. Many have assured me in advance, 
that should this happen, they would certainly tomahawk me. 2 
In this it is, my Reverend Father, that I am happy, and 
that I esteem the felicity of my mission which compels me 
to consider each moment as the last of my life, and to labor 
joyfully in this state for the salvation of these poor souls. 



i Danoncaritaoui of Gandachiragou assistant of Tegaronhies, as keeper of the west- 
ern door, the latter exercising jurisdiction over the most northern of the two western 
towns, the Sonnontouan of the Relations. 

2 Father Menard at Cayuga was repeatedly threatened with death as a sorcerer. He 
relates that a warrior lodging in the same cabin, for three nights in succession, attempt- 
ed to kill him. and was only prevented by his host and friend Suonchiogwa, the chief of 
the canton. The persecution of the missionary Fathers as sorcerers was also common 
among the Hurons. They were charged with causing not only personal calamities, but 
all the miseries of the nation, ;ind at times it would appear, that nothing short of spe- 
cial divine intervention stayed or turned aside the murderous blow of the infuriated sav- 
age. Father Jogues was killed among the Mohawks on charge of being u sorcerer. A 
belief in sorcery and witchcraft appears to have prevailed very generally among the 
Indians of Americ i. The Zunis in their recent visit to the Atlantic coast in charge 
of Mr. Frank H. Cushing, while passing through Salem, looked upon the place with great 
reverence and awe, as being the place where witches once lived, and were burned. 



66 

One single infant secure in heaven through holy baptism, is 
sufficient to change into sweetness all these bitter trials. 

This old man of whom I have spoken, takes advantage of 
everything that has occurred of late, and particularly of what- 
ever those who have been to Quebec, have reported agains 
It by no means needed this, to turn from prayer and to em- 
bitter against as a people sosus s, and who are entirely 
given up to s stil 3; 

come to the chapel. If I enter their cabins - : out the 
sick-, they regard me with an evil eye; and ii' it t<> 

Instruct, th< v ordinarily interrupt me with insulting - 
Any sudden outbreak of drunkenness 
compels me to retire to the chapel where I have always found 
refuge I wonder that. in 

gle instance, has a drunkard come and him 

they prevented, 111 From doing me injury. 

in- eleven months there have died in all the I this 

nation, thirty- three baptized persoi - I all infants, W< 

have baptized seven others who are still sick; in all f«>- 

The mercy '•;' < rod lias ; tain bap: 

adults, among others, toward a captive of 1 Out z innha 
or Ohaouanong, advanced in i dinarily they brii 

captives, only the young men f: 

so ordered it that, happily. I should find myself in t - 
on his arrival with an interpreter. I I know of 

this language in this country : he heard with pleasure all that 
1 taught him oi the chief myst< - . and <a 

nal happiness in paradise. At lei i md him 

to baptism, and 1 think he entered heaven I 
arrived at Tsonnontoiian. Divine Providence h 
him bound, more than three bundn him 

to find here the true liberty of the children 

A woman being seized witli epilepsy, threw I 3 the 

midst oi a large tire and b - ild be rescued, was - 



67 

severely burned, that the bones of her hands and arms fell 
away one after the other. As I was not in the village, al 
the time, a young Frenchman that I have with rhe, who is 
well acquainted with the language and performs worthily the 
office of a catechist, hastened thither ; and having found her 
in her right mind, spoke to her of God and His salvation, in- 
structed and performed for her all the necessary acts on the 
occasion and baptized her. This poor creature spent the 
eight or ten days that remained of her life, in prayer; this 
was her only consolation in her terrible suffering, and extreme 
abandonment of all human succor, which she endured with 
admirable patience, in the hope of eternal life. These are 
effects of divine grace, which make themselves understood 
in these barbarous countries most obviously, and which 
greatly alleviate the toils, fatigues and afflictions of a mis- 
sionary. 

A Christian young man of a strange nation who died a most 
saintly death, touched me greatly whenever I encouraged him 
to pray to (rod during his last sickness ; his affection and 
devotion were visible in his eyes, over his countenance and 
in the fervor of his speech ; his relatives were struck with 
admiration ; he assured me over and over again, that he de- 
sired death that he might the more speedily see himself in 
heaven. Such sentiments are a most manifest token of 
faith. A Christian Huron woman has given to us similar 
proofs ; she had, in short, allowed herself to be persuaded in 
the prostration caused by a long sickness, that a superstitious 
feast would heal her; but she discovered her mistake, and of 
her own accord desired to make public reparation, manifest- 
ing great grief at having obeyed the instruments of hell, 
w T hom she upbraided in good earnest for the wickedness they 
had shown in giving to her advice so detestable. 1 

i Father de Carheil gives an account of one of these feasts of healing, to which he 
was invited, at Tiohero, one of the stations of the Cayuga mission.— See Early Chapters 
of Cayvga History, pp. 42-3. 



68 

TheHuronsof the Mission of St. Michael, manifest greater 
desire than ever to return to Quebec to augment the chu 
of Notre Dame de Foye. 1 Some of them who are not now 
Christians, declare that then they would embrace the F 
The most notable and aged of them all, took up the woi 
continuation of a short lesson that I had given touching this 
matter, and declared that for himself, he would not wait s 
long a time to become a Christian : that he had I j 
hour formed the resolution; that he n I his dn 

and all that was forbidden <>f God; that be would pres 
himself for continual instruction; that he would not fail a 
single day to assist in the prayer and that he would e\ 
others to follow his example. lie has held to his word thus 
tar, and I hope that soon be will be baptia 

1 conclude for the present, with a w nrthy act o( C 
tian courage. An aged person of this little church, who 
performed with great edification the i 
moic than twenty years, during which it had been depi 
of a pastor, in consequence of the wars of ma' - hav- 

ing learned that his only son had been killed on ti. - 
a battle with the ( iandastoirue. h< 

degree, although with entire ! I i 

which he constantly evinced in acts rao. Bnl 

surprised every one was, thai - having 

brought in. that the young man was noi dead and thai 
wounds he had received did '. mortal, I - 

had been borne awav on a sort of a litter, the old m. 



i This mission Wg founded by Fat: - laumonot. from* small H ii 

which Bought refuge on the isle of or rite Quebec, and which he him* 

companied, the your tfter the dee ti action of their nation. Ben he ream i 
exception of the yean !6oVh\ when he was at Onondaga p r 
establishment of the [roquoie missions, in IM, I ala death, he leanm 

mission to ;i new site \% here he erected a church and chapel modeled on th< 
Bouse of l.orctte. and perfectly like it in fonn. materials, dimensions and fun 
Ptom this circumstance the mission took the name of I. rettl litre the BUKMM 
enjoyed great prosperity.— See Shea'- 



69 

once regained his spirits and breathing into his faith new 
vigor, he passed the day in rendering thanksgiving to God, 
full of reverence and gratitude. The whole village gathered 
in a body at his cabin in order to testify to him their joy, 
and they left it with a high estimate of his virtue. 

After all, I have remarked that it is not so much the de- 
generacy of manners that prevents our savages from being 
Christians, as the false ideas which, for the most part, they 
have concerning the Faith and of Christianity. I know nearly 
two hundred families, among others, in firm and permanent 
marriages, who bring up their children morally well ; who 
forbid their daughters too free outside acquaintance, so that 
they are kept from dissipation and lewdness ; who have a 
horror of drunkenness, and who only need the Faith to lead 
in all respects Christian-like lives. It is this gift of God that 
we implore without ceasing for these poor souls, who are the 
price of His blood, and whom I commend very specially, my 
Reverend Father, to your holy prayers and pious sacrifices. 

Tsonnontouan, July 20, 1672. 



VII. 

This letter of Father Gamier comprises chapter VII. i : /,'- 
lation 1672-3, ' and pertains to the missions of the Conce] 
and St. Michael. 

"We have never discharged our duties with more of quiet, 

or with more of freedom than the present year. The Father 
P. Ralleix. arrived at the C .' ily, a 

month after I resumed chargi Si Michael, where I had 
not been for a year, as the village bad entirely burned down, 
and as I was left alone al Tsonnontoiian. I I 
all the satisfaction I could hope for in our Christians, 
their assiduity in frequenting the chapel, morning and • 
ing, for the prayer, and from their prompl 
every Sun. lay to the instruction ti. 

mass, as well as for the zeal with which many of them 
testimony in support of the party of the Faith in the 
ence of lewd persons who talk against it. .V certain pe - 
having said, one day it a superstitious feast which she had 
given, that the fear of my reproofs bad kept he. 
of time to her duty: "the fear of (l<>d an; II - I IgmentS 
should restrain you always," repli Christian who 

was present: and as he wj - ainted with our n si 

he followed with excellent instruction in the bearing ^i all. 
What has given esteem to the prav< , - 



i lidation a qui ■ ntx Mi sn om s dm ftwt de la Oompag- 

This Relation was primed by John GRaiarj She* In - 

Father KaiTeix had left the previous year to take charge of th. nkMB in 

the absence of Father de Carheil for thi f his health. 



71 

the principal men who are foremost to come to pra # y to God. 
The Chief of the Burona allows no occasion to pass, without 
exhorting, especially, the old men to embrace the faith with- 
out delay; and were it not for the eagerness with which they 
recur to superstitious remedies in their sicknesses, this church 
would largely increase in a short time. The Neuters and 
the Onontiogas, who form a part of the town, are at last 
softened by the example of the Hurons and at present come 
to the prayer in common with them. 

As there is not yet a chapel in the town of St. James, 
which, however, at one time was larger than St. Michael, I 
was obliged to make up the want, by frequent visits among 
the cabins, both to baptize the sick infants and to instruct 
the adult sick and others. I assist them in the praver, after 
the instruction in the cabins; and many have come to meet 
me at St. Michael and to pray to God in the chapel. The 
complaint that each one makes to me when I go to see them 
is, that we prefer the Hurons to them ; and that of all the 
Iroquois principal towns, this is the only one that has not a 
missionary among them ; if your Eeverence would do us the 
favor to send us a third, I have hope that he will be well re- 
ceived. 1 It is necessary there for the commencement of a 
church, which can only be successfully done by a person who 
resides on the spot, since there are many infants and adults 
who die before I learn of their sickness, and consequentlv 
without assurance ; for the reason that I am not on the 
ground, whatever diligence I use, it will be that some con- 
tinually escape. 

I have baptized since the month of July, 1672, forty-three 
infants, of which twenty- nine rejoiced soon after in the hap- 
piness which baptism had brought them, and many of the 
others still languish; and twelve adults, of whom nine died 



1 Father Pierron was soon after sent to St. James in accordance with this request. 



72 

shortly after their baptism and left me excellent signs of 
their predestination. Besides these, many infants are dead, 
baptized in preceding years. Among the twelve adults whom 
I baptized, the divine mercy appeared more especially toward 
certain ones who appeared to offer the greatest resistai: 
the grace. The first was an old man, strongly attached to 
the superstitions of the country, and above all to the princi- 
pal one, which is the fulfillment of their dreams. God s< 
Himself of this, at the same time for his salvation : for after 
having listened often to what had been said of I 
Master of all things who is in heaven : of the mercies which 
lie bestows upon those who an ;t. and the j 

which Be inflicts upon those who are rebellions, n was 
mitted that lb- Himself be shown to him in a dream, which 
offered to him his friendship, and promised to him all kinds 
of good in heaven. I had no further difficulty in persuad- 
ing him that if he would listen to the n G rould 
have pity upon him. " I doubt no m >lied the - 
man. ''make me to understand His will a - 
that 1 mav execute it.** 1 



i Freqneul reference Id made in the prei 
out botb the Huron and [roqu i - tbe power of 

mind, which when once Interpreted, ■ ri at all haau 

Recording to Father Fremiti, were exceedingly tempo] I i their 

divinity. This superstition retained ite hold among then ferred 

from tlx- following Incident given bj Morgan in :. - 

S14J which, in this connection, will t>e rand with Intereel : la tfl 

planter, chief of tin S - eelgned his chief ship In < - ( > d r a m a l "Pur 

ing a Nea Year's celebration at hie village on the Allegany, he weal fi house 

for three days, ennonnciog wherever he went, thai he had had ■ dr 

tl iid some >'ne to gaess it. On the third d 9 l told him ho would rolato his 

dream. Seeing him nearly naked and shivering with cold, he said, you shall hen 

be called Onono, meaning cold. This signified that his name, Gyantwaka, - 

away from him and with it his title as chief. He then explained the lati 

Cornplanter more fully : thai he had had a sufficient term of service for the g '-kI of the 

nation ; that lie was grown tOO old to he of much further am - . - 

seller and that he mnsl therefore ipppolnt a - 

serve the continued good will of the Ureal Spirit, he must remove from I - 

Bight every article of the workmanship or invention of the white man. I'ornplanter 

having listened with earnest attention to this interpretation, confessed thai 



73 

Another old man of the Ouienro nation, whom I bad bo 
licited for a long time to become a Christian, fell sick; his 
wife, who was the only one to take care of him also was 
taken siek and died a few days after, as she had lived, in a 
Christian-like way. The man seeing himself in the last ex- 
tremity, commenced to listen to the instruction that I gave 
him. He had no other consolation upon earth but the hope 
of Paradise, which strengthened in him continually in the 
measure that he became disgusted with his life. 

I conclude with the baptism of a young woman who lan- 
guished for a long time. She was of a gentle and innocent 
disposition and readily remembered, as well as listened to 
my instructions. Both her parents, who had a great aver- 
sion to the Faith, told her continually that she should not 
listen to me ; that I only deceived her and that she would 
find in heaven only tires in place of the happiness I had 
caused her to hope for. As the savages have great respect 
for their parents and believe readily all that they say to 
them, this good woman for a length of time prayed to God 
conditionally; " If it is true that one is happy in heaven, 
Thou who art the Master of it, have pity on me and conduct 
me there after my death." After laboring for a long time to 
remove the suspicion with which they had inspired her, I 
had the consolation of seeing her depart life entirely con- 
vinced of the truth of the Faith, and with oreat desire to 2,0 



rectly guessed and that he was resolved to execute it. His presents, which he had re- 
ceived from Washington, Adams, Jefferson and others, he collected together, with the 
exception of his tomahawk, and burned them. Among his presents thus consumed, 
was a full uniform of an American officer, including an elegant sword and his medal 
given him by Washington. He then selected an old and intimate friend to be his suc- 
cessor, and sent to him his tomahawk and a belt of wampum to announce his resolu- 
tion and wishes. Although contrary to their customs, the Senecas, out of reverence for 
his extraordinary dream, at once raised up as chief the person selected by Cornplanter, 
and invested him with the name of Gyantwaka, which he bore during his life. Corn- 
planter, after this event, was always known among the Iroquois under the name of 
Onono. His tomahawk, the last relic of Cornplanter, is now in the State Historical Col- 
lection at Albany." 



74 

to heaven, which made her importunate to be baptized as 
soon as possible. Seeing her in so holy a disposition, I ac- 
corded to her desire ; and going to see her the followiug day, 
I learned that she had died soon after her baptism. At the 
same time, I learned that a youth wounded with an arrow, 
was in extremity: I baptized him and in an hour afterward, 
he died. Seven adults and eight children baptized by Father 
Raffeix, who died shortly after baptism, increased the num- 
ber of the elect." 

It was in this year (1673) that Frontenac began the fort, 
which subsequently bore his name, near the outlet of Lake 
Ontario; but in order t<> quiet any suspicious the Iroquois 
might take at such a movement, he despatched La Salle to 
Onondaga, the capital <»f the confederacy, to arrange for a 
council to be held at K-ntc' the last «>f .June, and should he 
judge propel', to COnvev word of the same to the other vil- 
lages. The following letter uf Father Gamier t«> Frontl 
written from Tsonnontouan, under date of July 1". 1 
(translated from the afargry Documents, 1. pp. 239 240,) will 
show how the proposition was rea 

■•Aft. a- presenting you with my most bumble 
assuring you that 1 Bhare largely in the general joyal 
happy arrival in the country, praying Grod that He would 
assist you by His spirit, in order that your plans maj 
vrcil to the advancement of His holy service; for the i. 
of the King, and for the welfare of the whole country, it is 
my further duty to inform you of what i< p: this 

quarter regarding the K Er/sservi •. A- - 5] 

your commands, conveyed by Sieur de la Salle. I made them 
known to the savages of this nation, which compris - ' 
principal towns: two are •:' the natives of the 



1 The place "a- changed at the request of the Iroquois, and the eouncil wi« held 
Oataracoui, the Bite of the projected fort. 



75 

country, and the third, of the remnants of several Huron 
nations, destroyed by the Iroquois. Altogether, they are 
able to raise about eight hundred men, capable of conduct- 
ing war against their enemies. The chiefs of each village 
have been deputed to meet you at the place; which you have 
designated. They have made peace with all the nations with 
which M. de Courcelles 1 had forbidden them to make war, 
the King having taken them under his protection. They 
have recalled all their young men, no more to turn their arms 
against that region. Their greatest desire now is, to carry 
on commerce with Montreal whither they will gladly take 
their skins, if their commodities find as good a market there 
as at Orange, where this year they have advanced in price. 
They greatly desire that the French should dwell in their 
country, above all such as will be most useful, as blacksmiths, 
and armorers. These are the requests they make for them- 
selves. I am, etc." 

The French occupation of the Niagara River under La 
Salle, in 1678, rendered it expedient to send another embassy 
to the Senecas, to quiet their suspicions, more particularly 
with reference to the project of building there a vessel to 
facilitate purposes of trade.' 2 The mission was confided to 
the Sieur de la Motte, accompanied by the Recollect Father 
Louis Hennepin, who records the journey of five days from 
Niagara, in the dead of winter, and their reception at the 
Seneca village. 3 The next day after their arrival (January 1, 
1679), mass was celebrated in the little bark chapel and a 
sermon was preached by Hennepin, both the Fathers, Gar- 
nier and Raft'eix, being present. The council was convened 
the following day, composed of forty-two sachems; "and 



i The predecessor of Frontcnac as Governor of New France. 

'•> For a full account of this enterprise and the subsequent fortunes of the vessel, see 
The Building and Voyage of the Griffon m 1679, by O. H. Marshall. 
3 Shea's Hennepin, Description of Louisiana, pp. 75-81. 



76 

although these Indians, (says Hennepin), who are almost all 
large men, were merely wrapped in robes of beaver or wolf 
skins, and some in black squirrel skins, often with a pipe in 
the mouth, no Senator of Venice ever assumed a graver 
countenance or spoke with more weight than the Iroquois 
sachems in their assemb - After the interpreter had 
explained the object of this visit, stating "that the Sieur de 
l.i Salle, their friend, was going to build 
canoe to go and se Is in Europe, by a way than 

that by the rapids of the 3 rence, in ord< - nplv 

them with the same a1 a c 
the customary presents 

French nation, consisl a to the value of four hun- 

dred livres. But before his • 
demanded the withdrawal from the council, of th J 
Grarnier, of whom he was - s >us: and B 



i Fat her Louis Hbnnki 
Francis as a novice in th< R Bethuneln the 

arrived in Canada In Septembi g earde 

la 8alle to whom 1. - \. ■ lity and th< - 

Prontenac, a ahon time previous, H - joints. 

and from Fort Prontenac with a singleeomi 

country of the Iroquois, visiting th< i - at the 

latter, meetii Lyas, and mi -which 

he returned to Fort Prontenac and built a mission house in which Ii 
children were aaa m of the number 

I to accompan] LaSaileio hiafonrtl 
the great lakes. The part; left Fort Prontenac la N 

along the northern shon -lake. 

On the 6th of December they reached the mouth 
had ever yet entered, The next - 

construct a vessel above the fails, which rec 
near the present hamlet of LaSs w e the workmen w 

struction of this, the iir-t veeael to navigate the upper : - - aor de 

la Motte on a five days' winter journey through ti 

touan, of the Senecaa, of which Tegaronhies was chief sachem, and bcn< 
called Tegaronhiee town. This wee then located on th< westc 
mile and a half N. N. W of Honeoye Falls. Father Julian Gamier v 
of the Mission at this village, S I 

the council in his presence, ror which reason Gamier withdrew accompanfa 
pin, both highly offended. The vessel, named the Griffon, was laaached earrj in the 
spring, loaded With I force, ship carpenter's tools and the iron work for a veeaal to he 



77 

titled at the affront given to the missionary of the village, 

withdrew with him and took no farther part, lor that day, in 
the proceedings. The next day the Senecas replied to the 
presents, article by article, expressing their satisfaction and 
their thanks. On the last day of the council, a band of 
Seneca warriors brought in a " Ilontouagaha" captive and 
after subjecting him to the customary tortures, allowed the 
children to cut bits of flesh from the dead body, and cat them. 
Disgusted with the whole scene, de La Motte and his com- 
panions withdrew from the chief's cabin and without delay 
retraced their steps through the forests to the Niagara River. 
In the meanwhile the work of the missionaries, now rein- 
forced by the arrival of Father John Pierron from the Mo- 
hawk, was contested at every step, especially by the med- 
icine men, who were ever using their influence with the 
people, for the persecution of the missionaries. "Gamier 
was accused of sorcery, and as accusation and condemnation 
were nearly synonymous, they determined to tomahawk him. 
The executioner was named and paid ; but God averted the 



built on the banks of the Illinois river, and started on its perilous voyage August 7, 
1679. Coasting along the north shore of Lake Erie, through lakes St. Clair and Huron, 
they reached St. Ignace of Michillimacinac, and afterward an island at the entrance of 
Green Bay, where the cargo was unloaded and transferred to small boats, and the vessels 
reloaded with furs and sent back to Niagara. They reached the southern extremity of 
Lake Michigan October 28th, from which two routes led to the Illinois ; one followed 
by Marquette and Joliet on their return by way cf Pesplaines and Chicago rivers ; the 
other by way of St. Joseph's on the east side of the lake, to present South Bend, and 
thence by a short portage to the Kankakee and down it to the Illinois. La Salle chose 
the latter and constructed at the mouth of St. Joseph's a fort named the Fort of Mia- 
mis. On the 3d of December they ascended the St. Joseph's to the portage, and thence 
descended the Kankakee and Illinois to present Peoria, where a second fort was com- 
menced under the significant name of Fort Grevecoeur or the Broken Heart, for this 
apparently marked the extreme western limit of La Salle's third attempt and third fail- 
ure to reach the great Mississippi. Here the keei was laid of a barque, in which it was 
proposed to descend the Mississippi From here, with two companions, Michael 
Accault and Anthony Auguelle, Hennepin, on February 29th, was sent to explore the 
upper Mississippi, and lay the foundation for missions among the unknown tribes. 
They descended the Illinois to the Mississippi and thence ascending the latter through 
the drifting ice, were on the 11th of April 1680, captured by a party of 120 Sioux who 
were descending the river to make war on the Miami's, Illinois and Tamaroas.— J. S. C. 



78 

blow. Raffeix sought to lead a dying girl to the truth, but 
such was the hatred then prevailing against the missionaries, 
that she sprang from the sick couch and tore his face with 
her nails, till he streamed with bloo L Be did not 
despair; continuing his visits, his kind and gentle manners 
disabused her. She listened, was convinced, and to his con- 
solation died piously uttering a prayer to Jesus the Giver of 
life.'" 



Shea's Cat/colic Missions, 202-3. 



VIII. 

This chapter will conclude the history of the Seneca Mis- 
sions ; and comprises all that may be gathered from Rela- 
tion 1 673-9. ] 

Father Raffeix writes from Sonnontouan in these terms : 
" We endeavor to let no children die without baptism. I have 
conferred it on many this year, 1675, several of whom died 
after receiving it. As they are our surest gain, they form 
our greatest consolation, and we watch over them with 
special care, and God very often in regard to these innocent 
little ones discovers the treasures of his special Providence. 
Frequently mothers who had no inclination for the faith have 
come to me to restore to health their dying children, who 
expired after I had given them spiritual health by baptism, 
instead of the bodily health they had brought me to confer. 

I had for six months been watching a sickly little child. 
Our fear of making apostates, in case they recover from dis- 
ease, makes us wait to the last, till danger of death. Satan 
envious of the glory which this child will render to God for 
all eternity in heaven, it was carried away to a cabin remote 
from the village, and deep in the woods. 

Besides this I learned that it was dying. One day as I 
was ready to say mass, I was told that some were going to 
that cabin. I had begged them to let me know when any 
one was going. I left the village with those who set out to 
go there, and I ascertained the road they took. After mass 

i The several translations contained in this chapter were made by Dr. John Gilmary 
Shea, for the present work. 



80 

I started. The child's guardian angel made me find people 
at every fork of the road. But I should never have _ I 
there, had not three young children, who had come from the 
place whither I was going, and who were on their way fa 
changed their mind. They turned back with me. but & 
pered around in the woods so that I lost sighl tn. I 

overtook them at last and reached the cabin, hut found neither 
the mother nor the dying child there, although the three 
children had left them th short r sent ::iree 

times to call the mother from a neigh bo ri _ . Inch 

she was in tin- habit o: there 

myself, and as I was returning tin* last tin. - I the 

cabin with h<-r child from another direction. I remained 
some time with it while she went t<> fetch water, : whi 
to baptize the child, wine'. 

You see how a missionary should not s - hut 

if he has not great tact, he will lose man;. 
acting for the salvation of the children.' 1 

11 hast year they bo - T 

Father Gamier baptized 55 in 01 1 the S towns, and 

Father Pierro 90 at S ian/' 

RELATION 1673 1. CHAP. V. MISSIONS OF ST. MICHAEL AND 
ST. JAM 

If the Indians oi the I St U - 

weaned from the superstitions of the country l a " 
hitherto preserved themselves from the 
there would be no difficulty in making 
tians, Most of them solicit baptism from Fat G 
who is obliged to refuse them. - nnec 

certain dances and other supersti I 

employ as remedies in sickn — . gs render I 

attachments to this kin 1 of follv more difficult to break. 



81 

The first is the false hope of recovering their health by this 
means. The second is the profit which many derive from 
them. This has not prevented two of the poorest families in 
the town from, setting an example of courage and fidelity to 
God, all the more admirable, inasmuch as by abandoning the 
practice of these superstitions, they deprived themselves of 
the only stay left them to relieve their poverty and extreme; 
want. We often see in these poor savages, similar effects of 
a powerful grace, an evident testimony of heroic virtue. 

A Huron woman, who had long been a. Christian, after 
having lived in great innocence, combined with much deli- 
cacy of conscience, feeling herself attacked by a severe dis- 
ease, summoned the Father at once, to assure him, in the 
presence of all her kindred, that she wished to die as she had 
lived, renouncing everything at variance with her profession 
of Christianity. As she soon saw herself beset by the 
medicine men and soothsayers of the country, who urged her 
to permit them at least to tell her the cause of her death, she 
left her cabin to be rid of their importunity, and dying as 
she was, had herself carried to the middle of the fields. 
Thence she sent to ask the Father to come and surest to 
her some pious prayers. This noble act merited her obtain- 
ing, as a reward in this life, the conversion of her husband. 
While she lived he would never listen to anything in regard to 
his being baptized ; but as soon as she was dead, he was the 
first to ask this favor, with great earnestness. Thus does God 
display in these far countries, as -well as elsewhere, that he is 
the Master of hearts, to touch and attract them efficaciously, 
at the time and in the manner that he pleases. Pie seems to 
expect some at the hour of death, and employs bodily ail- 
ment to restore health to the soul, as he did in the case of a 
young woman, the infection exhaling from whose body had 
made them turn out of several cabins, although the Indians 
are far from nice in such matters. The missionarv was still 



82 

less so, and this infectious odor did not prevent his assiduous 
visits to instruct her. He found her very well lis - 1 by 
the lively apprehension of the sufferings of a future life, and 
by deep sorrow for having indulged in a life of sin The 
Father deemed it expedient to grant her the grace of bap- 
tism, and he had reason for prompt action, for the sacrament 
was immediately followed by death. 

There are others whom God converts by the ministry and 
exhortations of those who iversion themselves. An 

Indian of the town of the Conception has already obtained 
the salvation of several of his relatives, but has been unwill- 
ing to labor for his own salvation. lie is a man of very 
good sense, who has always taken pleasure in the instruction 
of the missionaries. A- he has much intellect, be is well 
versed in the mysteries <>f our religion; he calls himself a 
Christian by choice, although his life has hitherto rendered 
him unworthy of baptism. When he learns that any of his 
relatives or friends is dangerously ill, he goes and instructs 
him. and to be more easily believed by the patient, he assures 
him that he has long examined what the I IS 11 . 

and that after all his examination, he could find nothing that 
did not conform to the truth : that moreover I 
ing them only to dy> what he intends to do himself: and be 
intends really to solicit baptism when he sees he is 
die. He says these things so appositely and skillfully, that 
scarcely one fails to be convinced, or be perfee pared 

by him to receive that sacrament. lie did tl. - 
happily in the case i>[ one of his nephews, that Father G 
nier was delighted at the fervor with which this young man 
solicited baptism, and the rare dispositions with which lie 
received it. 

But of all the means which God employs most in I 
three towns of St. Michael, St. James and the Concepl 
which belong to the nation of the Sen 5, I it which 



83 

efficaciously converts the Endians, is misery and being aban- 
doned by all creatures. None are better disposed to hear 
instructions or more prompt in obeying the movements of 
grace, than the poor slaves or other persons destitute of all 
succor, and forsaken by all the world. These give the mis- 
sionary the greatest consolation, and amid their temporal 
miseries, they more voluntarily receive the good tidings of 
their eternal happiness. The Father has baptized this year 
some of this class, and they all live as true Christians. He 
might have expected the same success with many others, if 
he had had time enough to continue to instruct them, and 
at the same time attend the sick who have been very num- 
erous, and many of whom died after receiving baptism. 

MISSION OF THE CONCEPTION AT SONNONTOUAN. 

Father Raffeix, who has charge of this mission writes as 
follows: " The great number of superstitions, which have 
gathered here with these tribes, which have taken refuge here 
after the destruction of their own country, raises up a very 
notable obstacle to the propagation of the gospel. The 
remoteness of the French, whose settlements the Senecas 
rarely visit, makes the teaching of our Faith seem strange to 
them, because they have never seen any one believe and 
practice it. Moreover libertinage and moral corruption which 
makes them publicly approve and praise all vices, do much 
to induce them to live like beasts, and make them insensible 
to all that concerns salvation. Not but that a very good 
natural disposition is observable in man}'', and that most of 
them are much less subject to their passions than Europeans. 
But where corrupt nature rules, men give way to bad exam- 
ple, and these rich natures which will one day do wonders, 
when virtue controls them, are as yet too weak to resist 
human respect. Few adults would die without receiving 



84 

baptism, if we could find them alone to instruct them : but 
the shame of passing for Christians in the eyes of th 3 
are not, is a great obstacle to their conversion. And for this 
reason I have been unable this year to baptize more than I 
adults, who all died after receiving that bless _. M 

• who pray to God when they me in the chi 

would be ashamed to do - who do not pray. 

A young woman took poison in <•■ - - griev- 

ous displeasure she bad n 
cabin several times to speak to her of ber wdvaiioi . 11 

I her lips. From tim ok her n 

dies and some delicacies, that Bhe might relic 
what 1 said i ' and of th happiness or m - 

of her bouL Aa long as her husband or motl 
her, Bhe would not s 
find her alone, and th. 

1 went t 

in the fields as I returned. At last ry when 

band was away, and her mother went : 

her heart t<> me, praying to God wit 

her sms. She then listen 

tions I ler, and prepared t<- n iptism A 

true, are not so completely slaves of human 

the sachems of the town to £ B 

niece and grand-daughter, who ran do no rnon 

lingered long. Tell them clearly, all a - 

to prepare them as well as - 

1 should regret i T deeply, if this old man. wl 
baptized, should hims » ' his 

daughters, his niece and grand niece have received tl - 
and which, we have grounds to believe, they 
lied to heaven, for thev died 8 

Traveling one day with a man who was ret 
war party, as 1 conversed with him on - ami the 



85 

teries of faith, he related to me that one of the chiefs of 
their army, holding council near the enemy's country, had 
said that they must go fearlessly into action. " For my part," 
mtinued, " I am far from entertaining any fear: for] 
know that nothing happens to us. except by the permission 
of him who is in heaven, whom I adore and whom I invoke 
since I embraced Christianity." Would that all | 
-line courage, and could rise above human respect. 

I cannot express the pleasure which I felt on hearing an 
old man who had been a Christian for several years, and who 

- not belong in the country. - Ah.'* he said. "When 
will it be my happiness to remove to the country of Faith, 
among the French, and live no longer where God is not 
known and where he is so often offended ? How happy should 
I live and die among my brethren, the Christians of Quebec 
or of la Prairie la Magdelaine ? If I and my family do not 
soon leave this country, my -son, my grand-daughter and my 
wife will be exposed to lose the faith amid this infidelity, 
and debauchery, whereas if they lived among Christians. 
they would be saved by following their good example." Pie 
has accordingly resolved, cost what it will, to set out a month 
hence to reside at Quebec, lie will not accomplish it with- 
out great toil and difficulty. God has his predestined every- 
where : but this good grain is still very rare in this country. 
It will be for fervent and zealous missionaries, who come 
here often to cultivate this ungrateful and sterile land, to 
make the seed yield a hundred fold. 

Of the number of these predestined, are especially the 
little children, whom we endeavor never to allow to die un- 
baptized. I have conferred it on a great number this year. 
Fourteen of them died after receiving it. As they are our 
surest gain, they are also our greatest consolation. 

The following extracts embrace all that is contained in the 
Relations concerning the Seneca Missions from 1673 to 1679 : 



86 

RELATION 1674. 

"If Father Carheil does not sanctify himself as much as 
he desires, it is certain that he does so, as do Fathers Gamier 
and llaffeix in the towns of Seneca, which arc the most 
remote from us, and also apparently from the Faith. How- 
ever these two brave missionaries make many conq i stc 
from the enemy. Father Pferron has gone to join them to 
take can- of a iargt town, which we have not been able 
hitherto to pfOVide." 

KKLATION L675, mission AMONG THE IROQUOIS, CALLED 
M NONTOUAXa 

Fathers Pierron, Raffeis I to labor in ti. 

different town-, are, bo to Bay, obliged to carry their liv< 
their hands at all times, f<>r they are in almost habitual dan- 
ger oC being massacred by those savag 

In fact, since the Senecaa enl i 
toguea, who were their ancient ami mostformi I 
their insolence knows do I They talk only <>f n 

ing the ww against onr allies, and even against the 
and beginning by the destruction of !•'■ 
not long since resolved tc tomahawk 
ing him as a Borcerer. They had not only hut 

even paid the man who was to str: ; we 

should no longer possess tl - m — narj tG 

served him bj singular Providence. All th- - 

do not prevent the Fathers from performing their fund 
boldly, giving instruction in their cabin and chap - 
they have baptized more than a hundred - - within a 
year, and they find that fifty, children and adults, die i 
year, after baptism. However, s - - take up arms 

againsl us l as they threaten, our missions great dan- 

ger, cither oi being ruined or at least interrupted, as 
the war lasts. 



87 

RELATION 1676-7. 

The upper Iroquois, that is to say, those whose lands are 

most remote from the French settlements, especially the 

Senecas and Cay u gas, are the most haughty and insolent of 

all. They go so far as to pursue the missionaries tomahawk 

in hand, pelt them with stones, demolish their chapels and 

their little cabins, heaping on them a thousand other kinds 

of gross ill treatment. 

■x * -x- -x * -x- -x -x- * 

I can draw nothing else from the letters of Fathers de 
Carheil, Pierron, Raffeix and Gamier, who are among the 
upper Iroquois ; their greatest and almost sole occupation is 
to suffer, and so to say, die each moment, under the blow of 
continual threats and insults which these savages necessarily 
breathe against them. In spite of all this, they have not 
neglected to wrest many souls from hell. For his part, 
Father Pierron has baptized since a year ago, ninety of these 
Indians, almost all children, of whom fifty died after baptism. 

********* 

In one town of the Senecas, where Father Gamier is, there 
have died within a year forty children and forty adults, bap- 
tized. As for Father Raffeix, who is in another town of the 
Senecas, he reports that he profited well by a pulmonary 
disorder with which God has chastised these savage inhabi- 
tants, and which carried off in a month sixty small children. 
"I have not spared myself in order to be able to obtain the 
grace of baptism for them, as well as for those adults whom 
God made known to be His in the course of this fatal 
malady." 

relation 1677-8. 

Further on, Fathers Raffeix and Gamier, who are at Son- 
nontouari, and where the danger is greatest (because it is the 
nation which more especially desires war) have conferred 



88 

during this year baptism on two hundred and twelve, among 
whom there are more than seventy children, a part of whom 
have gone to increase the church triumphant." 



! ither Pierron 1 evidently was recalled in 1677. and Father 
Raffeix some yeara later, leaving Father Julian Gamier 
alone. DeMeules, writing 3 _ 

suit, wh 3s to the a 

ther -John PisBMm cam • rham- 

- - 
In the Mohawk canton b] iron. In 1070, while in . -a council, a 

chief commanded htm to leave, \*i«iiin_: to be free to perform - 
mony, which he knew tbi :*dient 

to Bhow lii- i he even declared thai In ne in a place 

where they did nol nanlt htm, 

ment to Onnontio. 

him, which the mist the indispo- 

sition shown to aCCepI the great truth- which lu had announced to then. 
that becoold no longer I - nor their a" 

the abenrdity of which b 

Bpeaking to ■ poop 'hat of 

reason, 
ri-e to mncfa 
forward, m> pnbllc 
a- thfl Author of Life : that m< 
that Superstitions ami in': 

rendered efficient aid in securing this result. It .«lia m 

attend the French >>n the coat 

II . -■ : - 

to Virginia and visited tb <.anda- 

garo of the Senecas ami remained there antil !• : r Me i 
Charlevoix III, 163 and U< 

chaplain of the ezpedtUon of C 

appointed missionary to the Cayaga* in 1686. In the • 
Percee, and, after foonding Lapraii 
Q tehee in ITs 

K ,i:u r was aboni I64i. 

and was a brother of th. 

Btitl a scholastic, In October 1666, and, after teaching wa n yaflra, coanpleu - - 
and waa ordained in April, 1666. At ■ his final eiaminai 

1663, he wan sent to the Iroqoofe 
eca. He probably retnn i 

90 apparently employed on the Algooqnin M .fitau. who 

him much of the matter of his v< - is big his zeal and 



89 

Senecas, after being informed secretly of intention to make 
war, escaped in the said barque (one built by the Governor 
to trade on Lake Ontario), which was, anchored in a little 
river seven leagues from their village, and where all the Iro- 
quois used to come to trade."— [N. Y. Col. Doc. IX. p. 229.] 
In November 1702, Mr. DeCallieres announced that Father 
Gamier and Father Vaillant 1 had gone to the Senecas, ac- 
companied by Captain De Maricourt, and some French men 
to arrange their establishment. — [ib. p. 737.] Gamier and 
Vaillant must have left soon after, as Gamier was sent back 
in 1703, (ib. 750 ;) and Vaillant in 1704, (ib. p. 762.) There 
was a missionary as late as 1706, (ib. p. 775.) 



i Father Francis Vaillant de Gueslis, came to Canada as a student in 1670, re- 
ceived holy orders at Quebec, December 1st, 1675, according to the Lis'e Chronolorfiqm- 
and replaced Father Bruyas as Missionary at Tionnontoguen near present Canajoharie, 
in 1679. He was resident among the Mohawks in 1683, and accompanied Denonville's 
expedition against the Senecas in 1687, and in the beginning of 16^8 visited Albany as 
Ambassador to Governor Dongan on the part of the Canadian Government, on which 
occasion he acquitted himself with ability.— Neiv York Council Minutes, V. 211. At the 
conclusion of this negotiation he proceeded to Cataracony, (present Kingston) escorted 
by two Indians, who were sent by Governor Dongan to prevent him having any inter 
course with the Mohawks, his former flock. The breaking out of King William's war 
and the abandonment of Fort Cataracouy, drove him back to Canada, but after the 
peace he was sent in 1702-3 with Father Gamier on a mission to the Senecas, by whom 
he was deputed in 1704 to Governor Vandreuil to demand satisfaction for a violation of 
the Treaty on the part of the Ottawas. He returned immediately to the Senecas and 
contributed to thwart the efforts of Col. Schuyler at Onondaga who sought to prevail 
on the Five Nations to expel the French missionaries.— Charlevoix II, 292-4. Father 
Vaillant was succeeded in 1707 in the Seneca Mission by the Rev. Father d Heu, and 
returned to France in 1715.— O'Callaghan, N. Y., Col. History IX, 762. 



OiLf *^e 



LBFe 10 



EARLY CHAPTERS 



OF 



SENECA HISTORY 



1656— 1684. 



